High speed train comparsion
 

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?

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?

KTX is pretty good in Korea, in terms of service including free wifi and punctuality.

High speed train comparsion
 

TGV in France, ICE in Germany and AVE in Spain I find are very rapid and punctual with stations in the centre of town in my experience, Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid, Seville...tickets are not expensive especially when purchased in advance. I've got the train from London to Bordeaux where the Paris-Bordeaux leg was 20 euros because I bought the ticket 3 months in advance.

I've been on Shinkansen, Taiwan HSR, and TGV.

I did not like TGV because the seats lacked legroom on standard class, as uncomfortable as airplane economy for me. Did buy in advance and was cheap(ish) though.

Shinkansen, I've been on it many times because I live here. It's excessively expensive if you buy on local prices (no rail pass eligibility for residents). It's comfortable in any class, frequent beverage and food service thats reasonable, and city center service. Having said that, bought a few days in advance, ANA is the same round trip price to Osaka so I'll choose that for *A mileage credit as total time door to door is quite similar. Other places in Japan are more expensive to fly than Osaka typically.

Taiwan HSR, same trains as Tokaido Shinkansen, but very cheap in comparison. I like this train very well except the stop nearest Taoyuan Airport isn't serviced by all trains and if you're not closely paying attention it's easy to end up in Taichung and miss your flight.

The CRH trains - including the taxi ride to the station - are to me a better choice than flights in winter where PEK etc can be shrouded in fog and shut down.

I find annoying their directional change practice of flipping over the chairs... but hey... it's China... (ive not seen that on the ICE/TGV).

The German ICE trains are about the most comfortable I've been on. The Norwegian Flytoget service is rather comfortable too, though you do need a second mortgage to travel on it.

While I love the Shinkansen, and the sheer volume of people it manages to transport, the seats are a little on the small side for me. There were some services (I forget which - Sakura?) further West on the Tokaido Shinkansen which gave passengers with reservations green-car seating in standard class, which was really rather pleasant.

On the TGV, some sets really need some TLC, but my favourite is the downstairs first class on the Duplex. No through traffic, and so it's blissfully peaceful. One of the best things about the TGV Sud-Est is the sheer variety of the landscape - you get a constantly changing view as you gaze out the window - a fantastic microcosm of a beautiful country.

I quite like the new Javelin (High-Speed commuter service in Kent) in the UK. It's obviously Japanese built, but the comfort is excellent for a commuter service. Very solid, comfortable feeling trains.

Can't beat 19 Euros in 'first' on idTGV. I love travelling TGV, to be honest, and find it better than Germany and light years ahead of what any company in the UK can offer.

Trenitalia business isn't bad either.

Obviously I have no language issue in France, but can't see where that would be a problem. And they pay out for delays; I've never actually had a pay out in the last three years.

I've traveled on French TGV trains and German ICE trains. Both were fine, very smooth ride. I didn't bother to purchase fancier tickets as the trains are rarely full and you get plenty of space with a table in "Coach." For a few hundred miles they are great, less hassle with security and probably quicker overall.

Eventually air travel becomes a quicker (and sometimes cheaper, in the EU at least) option. I flew from Munich to Malaga for $25 or so one way. That full journey wouldn't have been possible on high speed rail and would have been very expensive using rail tickets - not to mention, time consuming.

I was on ICE from ZRH to FRA. While comfortable and not crowded, I'd rather fly next time for two reasons - noise and vibration. Noise was such that it was almost the same as flying 747. As for vibration - it made working on notebook impossible.

Well if you can speak or understand some French, that would certainly help. When I used the TGV, my French was limited to "Bonjour" and "Au Revoir". And the French aren't all that keen to help English speakers. Of course, later I realized there were English staff on hand at certain SNCF stations, which did help a lot.

Hmmm...that's odd, I didn't have those issues when I used the CRH trains (based on the Siemens Velaro, which is based on the ICE 3 train). Maybe that train has some particular problem?

But I agree, beyond a certain distance, it's better to fly.

That would be cause for concern IMO. I've always found the ICE and TGV trains to be impressively smooth and quiet.

I did Thalys from Brussels to Amsterdam in Premier class. I enjoyed not having to deal with security or the rush to get to/from the gates. When the scenic view didn't keep me entertained, the free wifi and meal service did. As I would have had to take the train from AMS to Centraal Station, taking the rail saved me the hassle of that extra connection.

In both Europe and Japan, the trains (Shinkansen, ICE, Thalys, TGV, etc.) are usually a better bet in my experience just due to convenience of centrally-located train stations and the absence of the "security theater" and other hassles and delays associated with airports. In addition, the scenery of the routes I have been across has been a big plus. The only downside is the environmental control, or occasional lack thereof, with incredibly high humidity in Japan, and cars that are too hot or too cold in Europe.

The Korean versions haven't been as easy to use, and the scenery is not worth the effort, but again, for the distances traveled, it is a wash for avoiding airport hassle.

The mainland Chinese train infrastructure has been inconvenient enough to get to and use and that I probably won't do it more than my first three tries, for all the reasons mentioned above. You basically exchange one type of travel inconvenience for a different flavor of equal annoyance and delay.