Chinese Bullet Train

“The chariots rage in the streets, they jostle one another in the broad roads; they seem like torches, they run like lightning.” [Nahum 2:4]

Back in 2007, a French train set the locomotive speed record by reaching 360 mph. While this record was most impressive, that bullet train was an experimental test carrying no passengers, composed of two power cars and only three rail cars. But in December 2010, a new high-speed rail in China called the “Harmony Express” broke 302 mph. That’s over twice the speed of a Cessna 182 airplane. So, why is the 302 mph record so astonishing when the French reached 360 mph?

First, China’s new bullet train was toting 16 cars, and a few passengers. Second, the train didn’t just crest 302 and then settle back to a more sane speed. Instead, the streamlined super-train was consistently traveling at speeds of 260 mph before cranking up the turbo to pass the magic 300 number, and then finally settling back at a robust 260 mph. Passengers aboard the bullet train claim they didn’t feel much difference between 150 and 300 mph.

The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway is now in service and is the world’s longest high-speed line ever constructed in a single phase. It was designed to carry passengers 811 miles in about four hours, averaging 204 mph. Other parallel high-speed trains take almost 10 hours to cover the same distance. This reduced the travel time from Beijing to Shanghai by more than 50 percent. The project cost about $32 billion and carries 165,000 passengers a day. It has had its glitches, but has been providing regular service since November 2011. In 1933 it took the train 44 hours to travel the same distance.

Did you know that Bible prophecy alludes to rapid travel in the last days? Notice these words: “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Daniel 12:4). Mankind’s ability to travel quickly will also parallel a deeper understanding of prophecy. I pray the speed with which we travel these days will be matched by the depth with which we understand our Bibles!