China Really Is On the Faster Track

By Russ Baker on Nov 18, 2012

What can we learn from the Chinese? Plenty. Check out what they’re doing with high-speed rail.

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Chinese Railway System

Do we still doubt that China is heading towards becoming
a Mega super power in a decade or two ?

Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail. Beijing departure station

The train speed is 350 km/hr

The crew to board the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed train.

The trains have 1st class, business and VIP cars, as well as economy class of course. There are also dedicated disabled areas, wheelchair accessible bathrooms and corridors.

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kusokurae

Yes, but how many people ride it, and how much money is the operation losing? Note also that those girls in the last picture are standing next to a mirror, creating the illusion that there are twice as many of them as there really are. Economies that are characterized by a high degree of central planning tend to build a lot of things that people don’t use, which is why China has things like ghost cities and malls.
- Russ Baker
  
  Yes, I think we should follow your logic and shut down all those rural highways the crazy central government built that are only used by a small number of Americans. Imagine: central planning! Also, lets get rid of those airports in the small places–and who needs the FAA either?
  - Kevin
    
    I agree w the original poster who said central planning leads to bad results. Russ, what about those ghost cities? That is what central planning leads to. The free market finds solutions that people actually want rather than ghost cities.
  - 207941
    
    russ, are you saying that without central planning there would be no roads? you know, before slavery ended people worried about how cotton would be picked. in your line of work you’re asking for a lot of embarrassment if you can’t can’t discuss economics without sounding like a brainwashed public schooler. Henry Hazlitt’s “economics in one lesson”, pronto.
- Andy
  
  Dumb ass, the last picture with girls standing next to a mirror are on training. Central planning can get things done right away instead of endless debating,
  - kusokurae
    
    http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem
http://www.facebook.com/Darren.Hussey Darren Hussey

Wonderful trains. I rode them in China and they were mostly empty as too expensive for local folks. Same would be true here as air travel cheaper and faster and as usual made more cost effective by private companies. NY to Washington DC $197. Accela, cheaper to drive and about as fast.
http://twitter.com/mijj mijj

the trains are mostly empty because they’re too expensive for local folks? .. perhaps this is because this system is planned for anticipated, long term usage where demand will pick up over time.

We find this puzzling because we lurch from one resource crisis to another because of short-term profiteering led planning which waits until after the last moment to provide service. By the way .. planning based on short term profiteering doesn’t lead to efficient use of resources.
DoASearch

Usage? Not empty: 290mil in 2010. Wiki High-speed rail in China. Do basic research. Thx.
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http://www.facebook.com/rajkumar.oberoi.3 Rajkumar Oberoi

Empty trains is in any sound system to expose people to travel on fast system with out fear & accident free travel & tuning to by laws in the system on way to popular house full trains ultimately.