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TRANSPORT
S
incethefirsttrainwasbuiltintheearly19th
century,engineershavefocusedonwaystomake
thismethodoftransportbigger,betterand,most
importantly,faster.Withtrainsoperatingaroundthe
worldatspeedsthatcouldonlybeimaginedintheearly
daysofpublictransport,rapidtravelhasbecomethe
normintoday’sworld.Andwithnewspeedrecordswith
everynewgenerationoftrain,technologyisadvancingto
bringustoourdestinationsinmuchlesstime.Whyspend
hourssittingandstaringoutthewindowifitisn’t
necessaryafterall.
Enablingpeopletocovergroundatsuperspeeds,fast
trainsareopeningupnewwaystotravelbetweencitiesas
theworldbecomesmoreconnectedthaneverbefore.
Whentheveryfirststeamtrainswereintroducedtothe
world,theseten-mile-per-hourvehicleswereconsidered
marvels,transformingthewaysoftransportingboth
materialsandpeople.Today,hoppingonboarda high-
speedrail,thesamejourneycouldbecompletedupto
30-timesfaster.
BullettrainsarefoundmainlyinAsiaandEuropeand
areextremelyfastandfuturistic-looking.Whiletheyare
currentlydominatingtheworldoftraintravel,soon
journeyscouldbesofasttheymightfeellikesteppinginto
a teleportationmachine.Enteringtubesinsteadoftaking
yourplaceona crowdedplatform,soonwecouldbe
shuttledhundredsofmilesasextremeforcestransportus
acrossthegroundfasterthananyotherlandvehicle.Discoverthe
levitatingvehicles
ontrackto
becomeoneofthe
fastestformsof
publictransport
intheworld
SUPERFAST
TRAINS
WordsbyAilsaHarvey250mph
Staff work on bullet trains at Qingdao manufacturing line, China© Getty
© Getty