{"id":586,"date":"2007-08-08T21:31:21","date_gmt":"2007-08-08T20:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.randomwire.com\/2007\/08\/08\/british-ingenuity\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T23:15:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:15:29","slug":"british-ingenuity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/british-ingenuity\/","title":{"rendered":"British Ingenuity (or lack of)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:9961,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Shinkansen&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251011230912\\\/https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Shinkansen&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:12:16&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:12:16&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9962,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Maglev_train&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251030005855\\\/https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Maglev_train&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:12:18&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:12:18&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9963,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/JR-Maglev&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20250830074602\\\/https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/JR-Maglev&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:12:19&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:12:19&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9964,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/randomwire\\\/1053106333&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/randomwire\\\/1053106333&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9965,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/History_of_rail_transport_in_Great_Britain&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251012101603\\\/https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/History_of_rail_transport_in_Great_Britain&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:12:22&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:12:22&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9921,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Industrial_Revolution&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251031063007\\\/https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Industrial_Revolution&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:03:18&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:03:18&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9966,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.500kmh.com&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251006014144\\\/https:\\\/\\\/500kmh.com\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 14:13:04&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-13 04:00:05&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-22 13:19:53&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-04 10:30:20&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-29 17:11:21&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-06 05:43:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-14 09:56:28&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-04 18:41:28&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-11 05:14:34&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-03 07:44:10&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-03 07:44:10&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:8101,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Transrapid&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251012012606\\\/https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Transrapid&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 08:52:17&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 08:52:17&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>Why is it that the Japanese have had bullet trains (<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shinkansen\">Shinkansen<\/a>) for decades which can travel at over 300 km\/h (186 mph) and experimental <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maglev_train\">Maglev trains<\/a> which have set a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/JR-Maglev\">world record<\/a> of 581 km\/h (361 mph) while here in Britain our ageing trains rarely reach 130 km\/h (80 mph)&#8230; are overpriced&#8230; unreliable&#8230; and overcrowded&#8230; you get my point!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/randomwire\/1053106333\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"390\" class=\"wp-image-68853\" src=\"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1053106333_ce7b836e65_o.jpg\" alt=\"Shinkansen\" srcset=\"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1053106333_ce7b836e65_o.jpg 800w, https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1053106333_ce7b836e65_o-768x374.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Considering we <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_rail_transport_in_Great_Britain\">invented the railways<\/a> it&#8217;s a pretty depressing situation. Sometimes I wonder if we just gave up after the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Industrial_Revolution\">Industrial Revolution<\/a> and decided to leave it to the rest of the world to invent the future!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Japanese Maglev, 581km\/h\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VuSrLvCVoVk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">This is how it should be done!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly a group called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.500kmh.com\/\">UK Ultraspeed<\/a> are proposing a network of high-speed Maglev trains based on the German <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transrapid\">Transrapid<\/a> technology, first used in <a href=\"\/maglev-flight\/\">Shanghai<\/a>, which would link the major cities of Britain at speeds up to 500 km\/h (311mph). Sadly their website is a rather amateur affair which doesn&#8217;t add much credibility to their cause, but all the same, we painfully need some like this to bring our rail infrastructure into the 21st century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is it that the Japanese have had bullet trains (Shinkansen) for decades which can travel at over 300 km\/h (186 mph) and experimental Maglev trains which have set a world record of 581 km\/h (361 mph) while here in Britain our ageing trains rarely reach 130 km\/h (80 mph)&#8230; are overpriced&#8230; unreliable&#8230; and overcrowded&#8230; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[88,11,4],"tags":[235],"class_list":["post-586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-future","category-rant","category-tech","tag-trains"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3341,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/riding-shanghai-maglev\/","url_meta":{"origin":586,"position":0},"title":"Riding Shanghai Maglev","author":"David","date":"26th January 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I was in Shanghai last weekend for the tail end of a business trip to Wuxi and finally got a chance to ride the experimental high-speed Maglev train from the downtown Longyang Road station to Pudong International Airport. I first wrote about it 4 years ago just after it was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;China&quot;","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/shanghai-maglev.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/shanghai-maglev.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/shanghai-maglev.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/shanghai-maglev.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":398,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/f-35-insides\/","url_meta":{"origin":586,"position":1},"title":"F-35 Insides","author":"David","date":"5th June 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not sure if this is legit or not but I came across these pictures of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter under construction (designed by the US and UK). By the looks of things it's a pretty amazing piece of engineering but obviously horrendously complex! It does a max\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Design&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/design\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/F35b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":620,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/korea-train-express-ktx\/","url_meta":{"origin":586,"position":2},"title":"Korea Train eXpress","author":"David","date":"20th September 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Public transport in South Korea is second to none that I've seen before, certainly on par with the likes of Switzerland. Buses, Trains and Subway systems are clean, modern, comfortable, and efficient with signs provided in both Korean and Roman characters so that hapless foreigners can get around without too\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Korea&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Korea","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/korea\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_5530-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_5530-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_5530-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_5530-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_5530-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_5530-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6908,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/return-to-wuhan\/","url_meta":{"origin":586,"position":3},"title":"Return to Wuhan","author":"David","date":"22nd December 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As part of my job I need to visit Guangzhou in south China every so often (2 hours from Hong Kong by train) and on my last trip there I took the opportunity to venture further inland to Wuhan (\u6b66\u6c49). Sitting slap bang at the intersection of many transport routes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;China&quot;","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/wuhan-high-speed-train-station.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/wuhan-high-speed-train-station.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/wuhan-high-speed-train-station.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/wuhan-high-speed-train-station.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/wuhan-high-speed-train-station.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56278,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china-by-high-speed-rail\/","url_meta":{"origin":586,"position":4},"title":"China by High-Speed Rail","author":"David","date":"14th February 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"China has the world's largest and most extensively used high-speed rail network, currently over 38,000 km in length, and it aims to reach 70,000 km by 2035. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d22w1X4iocc Riding this modern miracle is both enthralling and enraging; the latter because purchasing a ticket and physically getting in\/out of each train\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;China&quot;","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7345-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7345-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7345-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7345-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7345-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7345-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":260,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/maglev-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":586,"position":5},"title":"Maglev Flight","author":"David","date":"23rd March 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been running an alpha build of Dropline Gnome 2.10 for the last couple of days and must say I\u2019m impressed. Everything seems a bit snappier & there have been some nice UI enhancements. My desktop looks even better now! I was pointed in the direction of a cool little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;China&quot;","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/site_tree.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93691,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions\/93691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}