the.com/bullet train
engineered so precisely it apologizes for being 25 seconds early to work
means A high-speed passenger train, especially Japan's Shinkansen, built to run smoothly and fast over long distances on dedicated tracks.
from A loose English rendering of the Japanese Shinkansen ("new trunk line"), which launched in the 1960s. The nickname "bullet train" comes partly from the original trains' rounded, projectile-like nose and partly from their speed — fast and streamlined, like something fired from a gun. "Bullet" itself traces through French boulette, "little ball," a diminutive of boule, "ball" — so the name quietly recalls a time when ammunition was round, not pointed.
- average delay
- under one minute per year, including weather
- nose design
- copied from a kingfisher to kill the boom
- top speed
- China's maglev hits 600 km/h
- safety record
- zero passenger deaths from derailment in decades
- name origin
- shinkansen means simply new trunk line
shinkansen — japan's high-speed rail system, reaching 320 km/h between tokyo and osaka since 1964
shanghai maglev — chinese magnetic levitation train hitting 460 km/h between shanghai and pudong airport
eurostar — european high-speed rail connecting london to paris at 320 km/h through the channel tunnel
ice train germany — intercity express reaching 320 km/h on german rail routes since 1991