LOUDNOISES

The lack of competition and independent low cost carriers has long been a source of consternation for me but as those who know the Chinese mentality will testify, they would rather run a business into the ground before offering competitive pricing. With all the subsidising anyway, is there really any incentive to offer better deals anyway.

I would like to take the train more, but being on the PEK side of town a good hour away from the Train Terminals and usually with toddler in tow, the difference in price is not tempting enough to go through all that palava.

The Train prices on the long hauls do confuse me though - a 10hr trip BJ to GZ costs 3,000rmb return in 1st whilst a flight is around the same price and a lot quicker.

If they did overnight sleepers I'd be on it like a flash but alas non.

Is the subway now linked to Beijing West and South? Last time I took a train I came in to West station on a Sunday evening with suitcases, small baby and accompanying detritus only to find a three hour wait for a taxi. I have to admit I almost burst into tears

moondog

Journey's of more than 600 miles were never intended to be a sweet spot for HSR in China. E.g., the BJ-GZ line's true value is access to BJ and the PRD for cities in the middle.

chornedsnorkack

In which class?
Beijing-Guangzhou can be done in 7:59. The one way cost in 1st is indeed 1380 yuan, but the 2nd class is rather 862 yuan. Which class flight can be had for 1500 yuan?

Overnight sleepers are indeed sorely lacking on high speed lines. On Beijing-Shanghai, high speed sleepers do exist: D313, D311 and D321 take 11:41 to 11:42, and cost 696 yuan soft sleeper, 309 yuan in seat. For comparison daytime G trains take between 4:48 and 5:58, and cost 553 yuan second class, 933 yuan 1st class.

moondog

Again, this is by design.

JPDM

Yes the subway has been going there for a while now.
Not sure where you get your pricing. The second class ticket is 862RMB. Even the most expensive Business class is not 3000RMB.

moondog

First class return is indeed around 3000.

chornedsnorkack

Beijing West is on subway line 9. Beijing South is on line 4. Beijing station also has high speed rail service.

moondog

What is the relevance of subway logistics to HSR? In spite of Beijing's traffic woes, taxis are the fastest way for most of us to get to any of the train stations.

anacapamalibu

[QUOTE=chornedsnorkack;22686662]/

Overnight sleepers are indeed sorely lacking on high speed lines. On Beijing-Shanghai, high speed sleepers do exist: /QUOTE]

Kinda like waking up to Shanghai. Not a bad thing.

anacapamalibu

Is this a joke?
15 years to build 520 miles.

By 2029, planners hope to complete the first 520 miles linking the new Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

China has the world's longest HSR network with over 19,369.8 km (12,035.8 mi) of track in service as of December 2014.




http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...ry.html#page=1

JPDM

Lots of money has been spent on this already and nothing to show.

Dieuwer

It's the difference between Crony-Democracy and Capitalist-Communism.

chornedsnorkack

D908 - departs Shenzhen 20:01, arrives in Shanghai Hongqiao 7:20
D937 - departs Guangzhou South 19:30, arrives in Shanghai Honggqiao 7:32

LOUDNOISES

Pffft, that's schoolboy amateur hour compared to the UK. 20 years and 43 Billion pound for 200 ish miles of track that will shave 30 mins off the journey time between London and Birmingham.

That's if the Home Counties NIMBY's don't disrupt construction using flaming torches made from rolled up copies of The Telegraph.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Speed_2

(High Speed 1 was the Channel Tunnel BTW)

percysmith

One problem with China's HSR is it never connects to any airport. Different power factions' interests at play. Compare with the TGV Roissy station under CDG...