rail

TOKYO--The crowd lining the end of Tokyo Station's platform 22 is four people deep.

They're jostling for position with their cameras -- trainspotters, parents, and children alike -- to get a shot of Japan's latest bullet train: the Series E6 Shinkansen, known as the Super Komachi.

They all bought tickets for the privilege of entering this part of the sprawling terminal that serves 380,000 passengers daily, and operator JR East has to deploy extra security guards to keep them a safe distance from the glistening new locomotive.

With services to northern Japan on the Akita Shinkansen Line, the Super Komachi debuted earlier this month as one of Japan's fastest commercial trains.

It has been traveling at 300 kph (186 mph) and will eventually run at 320 kph (198.8 mph), also the new operational speed of the Series E5 Hayabusa, among the world's fastest along with France's TGV. … Read more

Earlier this year I wrote a blog post comparing older running games to new ones, to see how the genre that works so well on the touch screen was evolving. But even since then running games have gotten much deeper, with more 3D entries than just the popular classic Temple Run (iOS|Android).

I'm a big fan of these types of games because they're so easy to pick up and play for a short time and I'm never too worried about turning them off when it's my turn at the DMV or my bus has reached my stop -- there's always another run.… Read more

Rail Maze is a free puzzle game that brings back childhood memories. You play by assisting a little train from the start of a rail maze to the finish line, while solving easy puzzles. There isn't any action, or high-definition graphics, but continuous challenges enhance the overall gaming experience. Unfortunately, repetitive music plays constantly, which gets pretty annoying after a while.

The Rail Maze user interface is very simple, with no fancy eye-catching graphics, and dull explosions, but the puzzles are the point of the game. This is why any level of player can enjoy using it to fill … Read more

Granted, e-mailing someone an attachment is not difficult. Neither is sharing files via Dropbox, Google Drive, or another online repository. If you use a Mac and are on Facebook, however, there is an easier way. Free app SendRail makes sending a file to your Facebook contacts just a right-click or keyboard shortcut away.

After installing SendRail and hooking it into Facebook, you will hardly know it's there. It adds a small icon to the menu bar, along with a line to your right-click menu. To send a file via SendRail, right-click on the file and choose "Send To … Read more

Amtrak is launching its new eTicket program, which will let passengers board trains nationwide without a paper ticket, from the end of this month.

Instead of standing in line at the ticket window, frantically checking the schedule board as a train arrives -- and then sails past -- travelers with an eTicket can go straight to the gate, and then just show their eTicket to the conductor on their smartphone or mobile device.

The conductor will then scan the eTicket by using their iPhone. However, this is not mandatory -- tickets are sent by e-mail and can still be printed … Read more

High-speed railways are common in Europe and Asia, but they're more scarce than the metric system in the U.S. California, though, aims to change that with a bullet train linking LA and San Francisco in less than three hours.

State lawmakers on Friday approved construction of the first phase of the line, which has been the subject of years of debate. California's finances are in poor shape, and the LA-San Francisco railway is expected to cost some $68 billion.

According to the California High-Speed Rail Authority, a trip from San Francisco to LA would take two hours … Read more

Next time you're stuck in traffic on the highway, consider those lucky Italians. Some will get to ride in style next week when services on the slick Italo high-speed train kick off.

Operated by Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV), the Italo debuts April 28 and will connect Milan, Rome, and Naples. It's being billed as the most advanced train in Europe.

It has a top speed of 186 mph -- not the fastest in the world but still respectable. The record for fastest commercial service depends on several factors, but Shanghai's Maglev Train can run at 268 mph. … Read more

China has apparently tested a train with a top speed of 500 kilometers per hour (311 mph) despite lingering worries over the crash earlier this year of two high-speed trains that left about 40 dead.

Qingdao-based CSR Sifang, a subsidiary of train maker CSR, produced the six-car train partly out of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics, according to state media. The design was inspired by ancient Chinese swords.

The train, some 200 kph quicker than China's fastest trains, is experimental. It was based on CSR's CRH380A, which set a world train speed record at 486.1 kph (302 mph) last … Read more

We've mentioned earlier that BMW would have a role in updating the Bay Area Rapid Transit (or BART, as it's known locally), the commuter rail system that serves the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, we have a preview video that gives us an idea of what that refresh will look like.

On the outside, the trains don't look radically different from what you'd expect to see from a commuter train. They're all basically metal boxes that hold people. New external LCDs show the train's destination and the doors get yellow illuminated trim that serves … Read more