in my opinion, to have an accident at 280 mph or 100 mph would change nothing ... just that my body would be split in smaller pieces but death in all cases... So it will change nothing to put a bomb in a conventional train or a high speed train ... even a stopped train would be dangerous with a terrorist's bomb.
The problem with pushing train speeds (at least those using semi-conventional tracks) is that they are EXTREMELY vulnerable to terrorism or even "stupid adoloscent hijinks" like stuff on the tracks. It's impossible to completely patrol the entire stretch of tracks and even a very small charge or weakened piece of track (either almost undetectable -- almost invisible if done by properly skilled criminals) would spell disaster. Since kinetic energy is a function of the square of the speed of the object, a train moving at 280 mph will have 16x (!!!) the kinetic energy of a 70 mph train (given the same mass). Combine this vulnerability with the "media prominence" of such a project and it's a very ripe terrorist target. Al-Quaeda terrorists attacked both Spain's and England's conventional railway systems already. Think how they must be licking their chops over this thing.
i would love to have a 12 minute commute. i have to drive an hour each way to get to work. 50 miles each way on the interstate. i would love to have this train here in NM then maybe i would have a 12 minute commute then
There goes a terrorist now!
Let's get him!