While I like the Korean KTX, they have had a series of accidents recently (no fatalities, thank goodness); hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for KORAIL. I have taken the Thalyes, ICE, and TGV in Europe; I didn't notice a lot of differences (if any, I prefered the TGV). My wife did "enjoy" the red light district in Rotterdam - open in the morning - near the tracks. IMHO, Sinkansen has generally better scenery, especially if you go all the way from Shiminoseki to Tokyo. I lived in China; wasn't too thrilled with CRH due to the inconvenience of the station locations.

That's great! I thought years still remained for the Hokuriku shinkansen. Thanks for the heads-up! Also, interesting that Kaga onsen will get its own stop eventually.

--

I forgot to mention that I've been on the KTX and THSR, but the shinkansen (and Japanese stations) still reign supreme. Regarding the THSR, it was rather anticlimactic boarding at Gaoxiong then having to take a bus from the station closest to TPE (but not located at TPE).

On the CRH trains in China:
I personally like them, however, there are some problems:
Buying a ticket for a domestic Chinese flight takes me 1-2 minutes on ctrip online.
Buying a ticket for a train in China is always a logistical challenge (if you do not have a Chinese RFID ID Card). I have many stories to tell. There are small family-owned train ticket sellers in big cities, however, their opening times do not work, if one has to work all day long.

A second thing:
I know quite a lot of business people, who do not like to take a CRH High Speed train to Beijing.
Reason: Have a guess?
Well, it is very hard to get a taxi at rush hour at Beijing South Railway Station. I myself waited for over 90 minutes (with lots of luggage, so no Subway for me), while it was NOT raining in Beijing.
It is easier to get a taxi at Beijing Capital Airport, hence, business people prefer to fly.

NIMBYs are not the main cause why there is no real high speed rail in the USA.
The Tea Party controls the House of Representatives. They would always fight against appropriating money for High-Speed Rail.
You can win lots of votes in the US by playing to be a fiscal conservative, talking against China/France (both big High-Speed Rail nations) and promising to support the American Dream (America is a Car-only nation).

High-Speed Rail has no future in the US. It is considered to be socialism.
The concept of High-Speed Rail does not go together with American Values when it comes to transportation.
1) High-Speed Rail is a huge upfront investment (you need federal money and federal money is controlled by the Tea Party; a liberal State cannot afford to cover the costs by itself)
2) You need to source lots of non-American made technology, maybe even from China (a no go)
3) High-Speed Rail is a form of public transportation; America (ex NYC) is all about individual transportation ("I go to any place, any time I want to"); A classical line from Fox News or Talk Radio: "People who take trains are poor, they cannot afford a car, but they expect the Government pay for Rail so they can have a free ride. All while the traditional American family has to suffer high gas prices at the pump. High-Speed Rail is socialism. You know where it comes from: Yes, France and China! If the leader of the American Communist Party - Comrade Barack Hussein Obama - invests even one penny into High-Speed Rail, we will shut down the Government. Here is a list of Congressmen, who support High-Speed Rail. Call or write them. Tell them to get the f*** out of Washington! Stay Tuned! After the break - Hear from our contributors Ann Coulter and Michelle Bachmann, what their take is on the great Socialist Dream, called High-Speed Rail!"

I regularly travel on the CRH between Shanghai and Beijing and while I hate the location of the stations I do like the trains. The seats in Business class are very comfortable and wide, the configuration is 1-1.

I found pictures of the seats I took a while ago:
http://s21.postimg.cc/purl34p87/image.jpg

http://s21.postimg.cc/59ctb87nb/image.jpg

The price for Business Class ticket on the High-Speed Train Shanghai - Beijing is running at RMB 1748.
First Class is RMB 933 and Second Class is RMB 555.

Now, if I have a budget of RMB 1748, I rather take Air China or Eastern Airlines Business Class, which offer flatbed on their plenty widebody flights between Shanghai and Beijing. I usually pay around RMB 1300/1200 for flatbed Business Class.
Even if I am stuck on the tarmac for 4 hours due to the air traffic congestion, I can snooze in my flatbed. Moreover, I do not have to face the precarious taxi situation at Beijing South Railway Station

Just did three segments (1.5 hrs to 4.5 hours ) in China. Found the ride in Second Class (2x2) quite comfortable. Acceleration to 295 KPH was rapid.Noise level or jerks hardly noticeable. Very clean, it was like every half hour a cleaning lady made a sweep even though the pax neveR throw anything ! No loud talking or drinking alcohol.

Would gladly repeat.

What CRH train? 2nd class is usually 2x3

Yes, 2x3 ....thanks. Beijing to Luoyang to Xian.

Yes, I agree politics is the bigger obstacle to High Speed Rail in the US. The reasons you cite all have been made by various far-right politicians and fox news pundits. Most of the reason given above by these anti-rail folks by the way make absolutely no sense whatsoever if you think about it. By their perverse logic, Eisenhower's interstate highway system would probably never have been constructed because of the "upfront" cost.

What a bizzare comment!! Last time I looked, the Democrats (liberals)were in power in the USA. Of course that does not fit your looney left comment!!

Umm, yes they are. Here in CA, we got the federal grants to build the HSR between LA and SF. We even got the money from WI and FL who rejected the HSR federal grants for their states.

Yet even with the federal grants, nothing is being built yet because the ones stalling the progress are the rich folk over in Palo Alto who are flapping their arms and bawling with frivilous lawsuits by saying "we don't want HSR going near our homes" and "won't someone pleeeeeease think of the children" or whatever BS.

Millions of federal grants are being spent in just appeasing these folks even before a shovel is put to ground. Heck, the CAHSR has a hard time buying out the land it needs to build the HSR because everyone keeps suing them. Welcome to Murica.

http://www.cahsrblog.com/2013/11/get...isition-right/
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2...igned-into-law

Politics is not the problem for the NY-DC-Boston Acela corridor. It is the cost of urban real estate in the area (and the difficulty in forcing the sale of it if you could afford it) to provide the straight lines required for high speed travel. The TGV is largely crossing farmland between the big cities. Politics may have more of an impact in other areas, but, frankly, a lot of the proposed routes don't make much sense to me. Only DC-Chicago-NY, Houston-Dallas-Austin and maybe SF-LA. Otherwise, the traffic just isn't there. If between two given cities there are only one or two flights a day, how can they be expected to fill a train every hour?

Politics aside, the economic equation for high speed rail never ends in a positive number.

The population density is too thin, and the distances are too great. America is not Japan.

That is why no private company will make the effort to create a high speed train with current technology.

The federal investment for the Eisenhower interstates made good economic and political sense, as the repayment to positive value was accomplished early, and the benefits were spread across the country in a more-or-less even fashion.

The immense tax dollar transfer from Americans who will never any benefit from a high speed rail line from DC to NYC to the politicos and bankers who would benefit from such a line will never receive support from any state senator or representative outside of Connecticut, New York or Maryland.

I love riding trains, but even so I am enough of a rational economic consumer that I would never support such a project in the US based on current technology and costs. When Elon Musk's Amaz-O-Train (or some other analog) proves out to be economically viable and technologically achievable, then I will be happy to support it.

In the States, freight trains have the right of way as they own the rail. Amtrack trains are required to wait until a freight train has passed by. This can add additional time to travel long distances.

In France, I don't recall my non-high speed passenger train waiting until a freight train passed by.