Originally Posted by
L Dude 7
There I tried to buy a ticket for a train that I thought left in 15 minutes. The guy told me that I couldn't (I really need to work on my Chinese) and I got a ticket for a train that left in an hour or so.
Not a function of your Chinese level. Most stations have a cut-off time for selling the HSR tickets of 30 minutes before departure.
Originally Posted by
moondog
It is peculiar that many HSR stations seem to be in extremely inconvenient locations (Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Ji'nan, Changsha, Wuhan, Nanjing, all come to time). Sprawl planning?
The infrastructure and construction needed is too great and too disruptive to put it in an already-built-up area of the city. You'd have to level a lot of existing stuff above (and below) ground---too much trouble and too expensive. Just the relocation costs for all the residents in a densely-populated area would be eye-popping. Beijing South isn't that inconvenient but it was not new, it was a rebuilt station but the track right of ways were already in place. My main issue is not station location, but (inadequate planning of linkages from distant new stations into the heart of the cities. Sprawl planning is an interesting theory but I believe is not the primary motivation for HSR station location. Sometimes it's the most logical place (i.e. Chengdu East).