World's fastest rail journey starts operation

[Bushy]

The second class ticket price is 72$, first class ticket price is 114$. Total distance is 1064 km. It'll take 3 hours from Wuhan to Guangzhou.

That is dirt cheap for what I see in the pictures and the numbers! Great job there!

 

[592257001]

I love the cockpit picture of the CRH trains, it reminds me of the Start Trek enterprise's brige: Warp 5, engage!

 

[stax]

Congratulations.

1)What is the distance between Wuhan - Guangzhou?
2)Is this broad-gauge or metre-gauge?
3)Can it carry freight also besides passengers? If so whats the tonnage and avg speed for such and comparison to current freight trains along the route?
4)How many runs will be made in a day/week?
5)How many stops on the way?

1. 1068 km
2. standard-gauge(1.435 m, nearly all rails in China are standard-gauge)
3. It only carry passengers, the old rail will carry freight.
4. 28 runs from Guangzhou to Wuhan and 28 runs from Wuhan to Guangzhou every day. Departure interval is 0.5 hour.
5. 18 stops

 

[grey boy 2]

I really getting home sick by looking at those amazing pictures and

the developments going on in China.

Can't wait to get on a ride, but sadly for me will surely a long shot.

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

1. 1064 km
2. standard-gauge(1.435 m, nearly all rails in China are standard-gauge)
3. It only carry passengers, the old rail will carry freight.
4. 28 runs from Guangzhou to Wuhan and 28 runs from Wuhan to Guangzhou every day. Departure interval is 0.5 hour.
5. 18 stops

Wow, so many trips! But alas, 1st class cost $108 and 2nd class is also expensive. I prefer to take the 10.5 hr train and pay only quarter the price.

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

I really getting home sick by looking at those amazing pictures and

the developments going on in China.

Can't wait to get on a ride, but sadly for me will surely a long shot.

Save some money, make some time, and buy a camcorder (I recommend SONY HD) and make a documentary (as well as home videos of your trip). That way, you can share with the world and dispel some falsehoods.

 

[stax]

Is this CRH 06? It doesn't say it on the front of the train.

CRH2C and CRH3

 

[faithfulguy]

I doubt this service will be employed in India even in the next 50 years. And I have very valid reasons to think so.

Does people still jump on top of train or hold on to the side of the train in India? Just curious because I was told that this is the case a while back. Not related to this thread though.

 

[saurabh]

I checked:

VIP: about $120 - can see how CRH is driven.
1 class : about $100
2. Class: about $ 70

Kids (1.1m-1.5m height): half price
Students: 25% discount
Group fare: 25% discount

It's said that the normalised standard fare would become about $60 later.

I don't know what's the standard fare for normal trainlines, probabaly half of it?

In comparison to arilines, CRH is 45 mins slower for the same distance, and possiblely slightly cheaper or the same.

But hey, that's for 1068.6km journey within 3 hours btw Wuhan and Guanzhou! And the train goes as frequent as City Bus : every 0.5 hour per train.

In comparison, only a part of France and a part of Spain have similar service. The trains of rest of the EU (including Germany and Britain) to China's CRH, is like a VW to a Ferrari !

Yes, it's expensive for many common Chinese as normal journey, I think.

Doesn't seems like everyone will be traveling, so wouldn't more airports/flights cheaper option?

 

[faithfulguy]

Doesn't seems like everyone will be traveling, so wouldn't more airports/flights cheaper option?

I think its a very good option for less than 1.5 hour flight. This is because its 1hr or more to wait for the plane ride. The plane is also affected by the weather.

For the distance between Wuhan and Guranzhou, I would take train if the train is a little bit cheaper. That is why I would go for the 2nd class tickets as the first top class would be equvalent of flying.

 

[stax]

Doesn't seems like everyone will be traveling, so wouldn't more airports/flights cheaper option?

China has a large population and needs large passenger capacity.
A high speed train can contain more than 1000 passengers, five times of the passenger capacity of a normal plane!

 

[trickster]

China has a large population and needs large passenger capacity.
A high speed train can contain more than 1000 passengers, five times of the passenger capacity of a normal plane!

If that's the case why not build maglev trains instead, bullet trains are already reaching their speed limit and may not be able to go any faster, whereas maglev go further with their speed:

From wikipedia:

"the most well known implementation of high-speed maglev technology currently operating commercially is the IOS (initial operating segment) demonstration line of the German-built Transrapid train in Shanghai, China that transports people 30 km (18.6 miles) to the airport in just 7 minutes 20 seconds, achieving a top speed of 431 km/h (268 mph), averaging 250 km/h (160 mph)."

"The highest recorded speed of a Maglev train is 581 kilometres per hour (361 mph), achieved in Japan in 2003, 6 kilometres per hour (3.7 mph) faster than the conventional TGV speed record."

 

[masterofsea]

China has a large population and needs large passenger capacity.
A high speed train can contain more than 1000 passengers, five times of the passenger capacity of a normal plane!

And the oil priece will definitely rise in the future,so train will more economic.and The high-speed train is more environmently friendly.

 

[Evil Flare]

if this service will be in Pakistan

it took only 4.5 hours to reach LAHORE from KARACHI

CoooooooooooooL ...

 

[Iron_Eagle_17]

Cool pictures...congrats....

This last picture is not a chinese train but a british fast track virgin rails train.
This service runs from Ashford to Cannon Street and vice versa it says that on the front as well.
Any how its nice to see china developing.