Originally Posted by
anacapamalibu
I would speculate 95% of the population could not afford to travel on the new train. Middle class in China?
Shanghai Maglev - Stupid Prestige Object
Tianjin High Speed Rail - Olympic Prestige Object
This new line is just another white elephant that will never see any financial profit and the sole purpose is prestige propaganda.
Although I have only seen the capital investment and fare numbers (so nothing on maintenance, running costs etc) I suspect you are absolutely right that the line will not make a profit
as a stand a lone investment
However, like many countries in the world, the extension of faster, reliable transportation links (and the trains can presumably move volumes of people more easily that air) promotes wider economic development which is difficult to quantify. On top of that, there is also the general economic stimulus generated by the initial capital investment in the project
Having said that, the pricing seems topside - the basic Y class Wuhan-Guangzhou is RMB1030 but significant discounts are often available (for next week there are plenty of tickets at RMB380 all in). So there isn't a meaningful pricing advantage to use the service and it will often be more expensive than flying. Flying is faster but by the time you've messed around getting to/from the airports it is probably quite close so why bother with the train? Sure, I might try it once for the experience but I've been on plenty of Chinese bullet trains (260km/hr?) and I suspect this will not be so different
nickyboy