Just wondering, for those who have traveled on high speed trains (anywhere in the world), how do they compare to each other in terms of punctuality, service, price and convenience? Would you prefer to fly or take that high speed train given the same travel distance?

I've been on the TGV in France, the Shinkansen (bullet train) in Japan and the CRH trains in China. In terms of punctuality I'll rate Shinkansen as the best of the three, as it was always precisely on time. For service I'll probably rate the TGV as the best, since I traveled on the "business" class there and found the seats nice and comfortable with complimentary meals. But language could be an issue in France. In terms of price, the Chinese high speed train was the cheapest of the three, but somewhat inconvenient as the stations are way out-of-town and need time to get there.

All three cases above I was traveling a distance of approx. 650-700 km and I would pick the train over planes for that distance.

But what about you?