Originally Posted by
WindowSeat123
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 on precisely on time. Service I'll probably rate the TGV as the best, since I travel on the "business" class and found the seats nice and comfortable. 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?
I have a few issues with the CRH.
You mentioned one, with the stations being quite a ways from the expected downtowns. Two in particular - Shenzhen North and Guangzhou South - might not quite be like FR's airport choices, because they are "still" in the city limits, but then again there might as well be express metro services - or another train - to central locations. Though, these are massive cities, so what is central?
Queues for buying tickets still advance in a very...local manner.
The stations are new, but practically speaking, they're a mess. I manage to trip every now and then on an uprooted tile, steep step or random 2×4.
In Shenzhen North station, when the smoking room got too crowded, they started smoking OUTSIDE of it. As in, oh right, I'm in China.
The food on-board can hardly be deemed as such. I do like 永和大王 for soybean milk and 油条 though.
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I haven't been on too many shinkansen, but my favorite part about them is the ekiben. Those aren't necessarily exclusive to shinkansen, but I have fond memories from 2002 and this year.
I give Acela one point only because it has a quiet car.
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Has anyone been on Turkey's HSR?