China railways scandal widens, raising criticism

[cross1993]

Self-delete

 

[CardSharp]

^^^^^

Not relevant. No one was comparing to India.

 

[Nomenclature]

There's this ridiculous idea floating around which labels HSR a failure because it didn't solve the transportation during the Chinese New Year. My advice to those critics has always been to eat some walnuts and grow a brain.

The Chunyun problem is not a problem of transportation, it's a problem of uneven development and unbalanced economic structure. The way to solve this problem is not building more slow and cheap railways but to move jobs inland, so people don't have to travel to work in the first place. The great re-balancing of China's regional economies is already underway, if we are to build more cheap railways as some critics suggested, after 20 years we'll be left with a massively underutilized slow railway network and a huge number of people traveling by energy inefficient option, namely air.

 

[Anonymous user]

Indians do not like the high-speed Rail, because they like to play acrobatics:

There is a good discussion going on and this will only derail the thread and create animosity, is that what you want?

 

[cross1993]

There is a good discussion going on and this will only derail the thread and create animosity, is that what you want?

I am sorry.

 

[Tractor]

In this kind of situations you basically ask yourself, "how much is my time worth?" and "how much in dollar values is comfort worth to me" and work out the math. That's how I make these decision.

The decision for what kind of transport to take is not made by myself but just by my boss.
10 years ago I travel by airlines but now travel on railways.Why?The reform of public ownership of enterprises turn into private ownership things.

 

[Anonymous user]

I am sorry.

No worries mate but please edit your original, I think Stingroy has been reasonably with his questions and we should return the gesture, otherwise we will have the likes of Jayatl and what not flooding here.

 

[Anonymous user]

Btw is there a HSR from Shanghai to Guanzhou? might need to make a trip down

 

[cross1993]

In fact, high-speed rail plan is China's national strategic plan:

1, High-speed rail and nuclear power, they will reduce China's dependence on oil, reduce environmental pollution, improve the pace of life and work.
2, We will use high-speed rail revival of the Silk Road, increased contact with Europe, reduce the demand for maritime transport.
3, We will merge East and Southeast Asia economic circle through high-speed rail plan.

 

[cross1993]

Btw is there a HSR from Shanghai to Guanzhou? might need to make a trip down

Of course, you can do now.
The future, every China city will connect high-speed rail.

 

[Roybot]

It might not be profitable or beneficial at this stage, but China will reap benefits of its HSR network in the near future. I have reiterated it few times on this forum, no infrastructure is useless, not in a country of 1.3 Billion people anyways.

Hope India will have a similar HSR network some day.

 

[StingRoy]

The Chunyun problem is not a problem of transportation, it's a problem of uneven development and unbalanced economic structure. The way to solve this problem is not building more slow and cheap railways but to move jobs inland, so people don't have to travel to work in the first place. The great re-balancing of China's regional economies is already underway, if we are to build more cheap railways as some critics suggested, after 20 years we'll be left with a massively underutilized slow railway network and a huge number of people traveling by energy inefficient option, namely air.

This is a good point. Not only will this reduce the mass migration during the new year, but will also ensure a more uniform growth. But this could also be a failure of the rail policies to anticipate such issues even after spending billions of dollars on rail infrastructure. I have always advocated that for developing economies, the policies have to suit the masses.... or atleast keep them in mind.

It will take atleast 5-10 years to tackle this issue of mass migration by ensuring a wholesome growth. But till then we will see a repeat or rather a worsening situation every year during the new year holidays.

 

[below_freezing]

Btw is there a HSR from Shanghai to Guanzhou? might need to make a trip down

Not avaliable until 2012. Take air.

This is a good point. Not only will this reduce the mass migration during the new year, but will also ensure a more uniform growth. But this could also be a failure of the rail policies to anticipate such issues even after spending billions of dollars on rail infrastructure. I have always advocated that for developing economies, the policies have to suit the masses.... or atleast keep them in mind.

It will take atleast 5-10 years to tackle this issue of mass migration by ensuring a wholesome growth. But till then we will see a repeat or rather a worsening situation every year during the new year holidays.

Thank you for being sane. I rarely see such high quality posts in the last month.

The failures of the rail policy is unfortunately simply limited budget and physical limitations. The problem was just as bad 20 years ago, even worse 30 years ago, and 60 years ago, you couldn't even ride a continuous train from Beijing to Wuhan, the train had to be shipped across the Chang Jiang river by boat then reassembled on the other side.

 

[justanobserver]

In fact, high-speed rail plan is China's national strategic plan:

Completely off-topic, but this map shows Aksai Chin as a part of Pakistan

 

[CardSharp]

Hope India will have a similar HSR network some day.

Sure hope so, probably will make a Train enthusiast like you very happy.