TX: Group Aims to Raise $10 Billion for High-speed Rail in Texas
They travel more than 200 mph, and during 48 years of operation in Japan, they have never been involved in a fatal crash.
Also, there would be no railroad crossings. The bullet trains would have to go over, under or around car traffic.
Money raised privately would be paid back with riders' fares. They would be competitive and in many cases less than airfares, Eckels said.
Reliability and safety are among the service's top selling points.
In Japan, the average delay per train is 36 seconds per year -- although trains between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka can average a minute per year or more because of typhoons and heavy snowfall.
Last year, when an earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, a bullet train operated by another company, East Japan Railway Co., had been traveling fast, Chairman Satoshi Seino said.
But, Seino told the International Transport Forum, the train's emergency equipment turned on and automatically brought the train to a halt, preventing damage and injuries.
Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796
