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Events on November 12 in history

Land speed record for rail vehicles
2003Nov, 12

Shanghai Transrapid sets a new world speed record (501 kilometres per hour (311 mph)) for commercial railway systems, which remains the fastest for unmodified commercial rail vehicles.

The world record for a conventional wheeled passenger train is held by France's TGV (Train Grande Vitesse), set in 2007 when it reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) on a 140 km (87 mi) section of track.Japan's experimental maglev train L0 Series achieved 603 km/h (375 mph) on a 42.8 km magnetic levitation track in 2015.

Land speed record for rail vehiclesLand speed record for rail vehicles
The Shanghai maglev train or Shanghai Transrapid (Chinese: 上海磁浮示范运营线) is a magnetic levitation train (maglev) line that operates in Shanghai. It is the oldest commercial maglev still in operation, and the first commercial high-speed maglev with cruising speed of 431 km/h (268 mph).

It is also the fastest commercial electric train in the world.The train line connects Shanghai Pudong International Airport (transfer to Line 2) and Longyang Road Station (in the outskirts of central Pudong, transfer to Lines 2, 7, 16, and 18), where passengers can interchange to the Shanghai Metro to continue their trip to the city center. The line is not part of the Shanghai Metro network, which operates its own service to Pudong Airport from central Shanghai and Longyang Road Station (Line 2).

At full speed, the journey takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds to complete the distance of 30 km (18.6 mi), although some trains in the early morning and late afternoon take about 50 seconds longer. A train can reach 300 km/h (186 mph) in 2 minutes and 15 seconds, with the maximum normal operation speed of 431 km/h (268 mph) reached after 4 minutes.

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Events on 2003

  • 17Mar

    2003 invasion of Iraq

    Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
  • 7Apr

    Saddam Hussein

    U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's regime falls two days later.
  • 27Aug

    North Korea and weapons of mass destruction

    The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
  • 12Sep

    Pan Am Flight 103

    The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
  • 12Nov

    2003 invasion of Iraq

    Iraq War: In Nasiriyah, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.