Never has a domestic train reached 140mph in Britain. All that changed today when the latest (Japanese imported) bullet train took a test run. Dubbed the Javelin, this train clocked 143mph on a test roll from London to Kent and back as the journey began from platform 13 at St Pancras.

Javelin - Britain's Bullet Train

In a regular routine the train would stop at Ebbsfleet -a journey of 17 minutes. For the test run though, it zipped straight to Ashford, covering 70 miles in 30 minutes and 40 seconds. The train promises to cut journey time from Ashford to Central London in half, covering it in 37 minutes.

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Solar Bullet Train Design

Bullet trains powered by solar energy were associated to a very distant future. But with the American government planning for a high-speed rail system, the future of sun and rails together is about to become history sooner than we ever thought.

Brainchild of the Arizona based Solar Bullet LLC (you know where the impetus came from), this new train would tread at 220 mph — Tucson to Phoenix in half hour — with solar power as its source of energy. Energy that is converted to 110 megawatts of electricity required to set the wheels in motion, using the solar panel mounted tracks.

In an attempt to save the waning world, solar power commuters could be our best chance and although this project involves a heavy cost ($28 billion), there is a need for a serious head start. The solar-powered Bullet could be the ideal beginning at least as far as the developed world is concerned. [via Inhabitat]