While the 5% price cuts are meaningless (perhaps, I'll use the y25 I save to buy a Big Mac Meal), the trains will fill up, simply because they exist. Company bosses won't tolerate, "the train is dangerous" rhetoric for more than three months... remember, China is operating on the "dog years" premise.

They should offer a huge discount, fill them up.
Claiming some kind of spin on 60th Anniversary PRC.

Then tout how they are
at full capacity. New riders would then become accustomed to the
high speed and convenience and not want to switch to alternatives when
they raise back up for the HSR ticket prices.

Early Friday morning (GMT) Reuters reported:
"China's second-biggest train maker will recall 54 bullet trains used on the new showcase Beijing-Shanghai line for safety reasons, the firm said on Friday, dealing a fresh blow to the nation's scandal-plagued rail system."

Anyone in China able to see the new schedules? Are there any G trains left on this line? What will be the new Beijing-Shanghai transit time?

Lower prices ^
Higher safety ^
Lower speeds :td:

Though I take safety over speed, I'm glad I got my few 350 km/hr rides in while it lasted (and didn't derail).

Keep in mind though, it was a D train that derailed. I've never been on one of those going faster than probably 160 km/hr.

Just saw this in the CD:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_13097144.htm

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_13101354.htm

Ok…looks like down from 88 pairs to 66 pairs of trains, with fastest still being under five hours.

http://english.eastday.com/e/110812/u1a6048848.html

The trains have no problem to run at max speed, they aren't going to
fly off the tracks. They will derail when you plough into a stalled
train on the line.

http://www.bearcanada.com/graphics/s...les/hsr009.jpg

China Recalls Bullet Trains
A manufacturer has recalled 54 bullet trains in China due to faulty sensors that cause them to stall. The trains have reportedly stalled 40 times since July, sometimes because a door was left ajar or someone smoked in the bathroom. The recall comes just a month after a deadly bullet-train crash killed 40 people and sparked widespread accusations that the trains had been developed too quickly. Authorities say the July crash occurred when lightning caused one train to stall and faulty sensors allowed a second train to keep moving on the same track and collide with it.

Ok, I'm glad I rode at 351 and didn't hit any trains stopped on the tracks. ;)

The reason nobody has run high-speed rails at over 300 km/h commercially (despite the ability to test-drive the trains to 400-450 km/h) is not only the ability for the train to run fast, but the wear and tear it does on the train tracks, the wheels, the suspensions, the joints, etc. You get the idea, and I'm only talking about hardware here. On the software side (which is the primary reason that caused the Wenzhou accident), the sensors, the signals, the anti-collision systems, etc. it's complication exponentially grows here.

This is why the world was very surprised when China claims to breakthrough (that no one else, with decades of high-speed experience, was able to) and run trains at 350 km/h commercially.

I truly believed China is using Wenzhou accident as a wake-up call to really check not just their trains (although also one particular model so far), but more importantly their tracks and software. The primary reasons for speed reduction, again, is not that those trains can't run fast, but is it safe to run that fast.

Personally, as high-speed enthusiast, I am personally upset by this. I was really looking forward to the real super train, China's much hyped 380 km/h model that it plans to roll out by 2014. But now, I have to settle at 300 km/h and 200 km/h (D-car).... yuck!

I'd say the basic problem is the poor state of vocational training and education in China. Mao did a troughout job to destroy and root out any remaining artisanal and industrial culture and tradition during his reigning period.

At the moment, nobody respects manual/physical labour in China. The same in Russia, btw. But then this is precisely what has made countries like Germany, Japan and Switzerland prosper. One cannot be succesful by trading, investing and gambling alone.

Well said. There is little to no culture of Quality and pride of workmanship in today's China. However, I'm not sure that it was ever there, even pre-Mao. The Chinese are more of culturally attuned to "do the minimum required to slide by" rather than the exacting quest for precision a la the Japanese and the Germans. I'll add to the thought that the problem is not just the vocational training/labor, but also management attitude. The best labor in the world is going to be hobbled if the management is inept or willfully corrupted by other incentives/motivations. But with good management, specific labor-workforce issues can be addressed over time.

They should have factored in the maintenance costs, before boasting about their high speed capabilities.

Like a dragster, you have to rebuild the engine after each race.

God forbid they attempt to build commercial airliners.

[QUOTE=jiejie;16921833]Well said. There is little to no culture of Quality and pride of workmanship in today's China. QUOTE]

That's not what Wal-Mart buys.

Perhaps that speaks more to the culture/strategy of Wal-Mart, and the mentality of people who shop for goods there at outlets abroad.

But Wal-Mart is not the only purchaser of Chinese goods. And not all Chinese goods are consumer-oriented nor even destined for retail trade. In my profession, I deal strictly with commercial/industrial products which need to perform--as in safety of a lot of people can be on the line if something fails. When safety is not an issue, economic cost of replacing substandard products (and installation) is always a threat. And it is definitely a challenge in many categories, to find Chinese-made products of suitable quality. For many types of products, turning to specific foreign joint-venture factories and/or going imported is currently the only reliable strategy.

In keeping with issues of Flyertalk direct interest (and to another post above), China is producing a commercial aircraft--this is an industry they BADLY want to get into in a big way. So far, the aircraft is primarily destined for the domestic market, with some for export to developing countries. However, in the coming years it should be easy to avoid these in favor of Boeings and Buses on the flight schedules, if one is alert. I'm not so thrilled with the thoughts that certain parts are being produced in China for Airbus and Boeing, and airlines are outsourcing maintenance to China.