China's Top 10 super projects

[beijingwalker]

China's Top 10 super projects

 

[shhh]

4,200 high speed trains to transport only 4.5 million passengers?

 

[AndrewJin]

4,200 high speed trains to transport only 4.5 million passengers?

1000+ passengers per one bullet train service, already the highest and busiest in the world.
You will find bullet trains in Europe quite empty, but here in China a lot of people standing.
Most bullet trains have 8 cars, total seats less than 600.

Japanese travellers in this video (about Lanzhou-Urumqi HSR) said, they found passengers on Japan's bullet trains mostly in business suit but in China all kinds of passengers could be found. Bullet train tickets in China are quite affordable, a lot of coach and plane services have been significantly influenced.

 

[T-123456]

4,200 high speed trains to transport only 4.5 million passengers?

4,5 million per day.

 

[AndrewJin]

4,5 million per day.

Yes...
One can probably go to the railway stations to buy a ticket for the next train in Europe and Japan.
But in China, always always pre-order!
Don't try to buy tickets at the station....

 

[T-123456]

Yes...
One can probably go to the railway stations to buy a ticket for the next train in Europe and Japan.
But in China, always always pre-order!
Don't try to buy tickets at the station....

Why not?

 

[AndrewJin]

Why not?

Sold out.....

The first time I took Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity, I thought it was easy to buy a ticket.....
But it turned out all trains in the next 2 hours had been sold out though the train was every 5-10 minutes.
Anyway, Shanghai Hongqiao Station is an interesting place to explore.....
Later, when people (China ID card holders) could buy ticket with China Railway's APP, I have never bought tickets at station again. I just print my ticket. Some stations accept ID card without printing....

For short intercity lines like Shanghai-Hangzhou I will buy tickets one day before.
For longer services which are less frequent, I will order one week before.....
For public holidays, good luck....
Tickets during Spring Festival are usually sold out within 10 minutes after ticket booking opens.

 

[shhh]

4,5 million per day.

Oh, now THAT is awesome!

 

[TaiShang]

Why not?

When I travelled between Fuzhou-Jinan (7.5 hrs), I had to book ticket two weeks ago before leaving Taiwan.

Like @AndrewJin says, China bullet trains are being taken by people from every walks of life and in fact just becoming popular.

 

[T-123456]

China bullet trains are being taken by people from every walks of life

What do you mean by that?
Because its cheap?

 

[lonelyman]

What do you mean by that?
Because its cheap?

He means high speed rail is not "high end", which can be used by regular folks even migrant workers. A little background, before the construction, there are critics that poor people can not afford hsr, only the slower trains.

 

[AndrewJin]

Oh, not THAT is awesome!

Not so awesome to a lot of passengers who are facing shortage of tickets everyday because of lack of trainsets....
Every time a batch of new trains are ready for use, railway bureaus around the country will have to "fight" for a share.
And local governments are willing to pay a lot of money to Chinese Railway Corporation to secure a service terminating at their own cities under the name of "buy public services".

What do you mean by that?
Because its cheap?

Yes, in many cases, cheaper than coach and flights.
One can say cheaper coached and flights are the result of competition from HSR.

 

[shhh]

Not so awesome to a lot of passengers who are facing shortage of tickets everyday because of lack of trainsets....
Every time a batch of new trains are ready for use, railway bureaus around the country will have to "fight" for a share.
And local governments are willing to pay a lot of money to Chinese Railway Corporation to secure a service terminating at their own cities under the name of "buy public services".

Why cant you solve it by building more trains?