I once took the Chinese HSR from Beijing to Hong Kong a few years back. In 5-6 hours, you literally travel from Winter to Summer. And since it is a train ride and not a flight, you can see the scenery slowly progress from snow to greenery. The whole experience was just uncanny and mind-boggling!
I guess that chinese people will never look at the past with nostalgia then; I've seen quite a few comments like this one and they really do sound awesome
And yet you still have to learn english. Moving forward, this is how we the Chinese should measure progress: The day we stop needing to learn english is the day this current phase of Chinese Communist initiatives and objectives are deemed successful. Btw, what have you done for China for you to bask in the glory of Chinese achievements? If the answer is nothing, then you should really be ashamed of not doing your duty. There's much work to be done to shut up, permanently, the lying mouths of the "free world".
John Doe ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PGcUfysSJFo.html I am afraid this video is without English sub. So far the best analysis I’ve ever seen. The English sources are mostly biased or even ideological oriented, which never make sense of the thing’s natural. China’s HSR according to this video is slightly profiting in a whole, but losing money in majority of the lines. China Rail co. bearing big interest burden, yet the local govs are gaining huge indirect profit and willing to do anything for the HSR line reaching its land.
Wait, so you're telling me the train station is already like that 10 years ago?? My first time been in Toronto（2019） saw that station I thought it just beginning to upgrade
They only forgot to mention how much it actually cost the local governments to create the HSR infrastructure. And how there are not enough riders to actually pay for the INTEREST on the loans they created, much less the operating costs. Great. More government spending with no payback ever. The best route, Beijing to Shanghai is still only half the riders of the trains in Japan. HSR is a giant millstone around the neck of the CCP. China Railroad Corporation Is losing MILLIONS each DAY.
@@davidherdman9798 I guess you need to watch it again, many of the routes are not for immediate profits, the goal is to help develop the economy around the HSR, so people not worry about living far away from the cities but able to work in the city, the benefits or revenues generate from the eco system is well compensate for the ticket sale loss. Without the convenient transportation system, no one would want to live 100 kilometers away from work if commute is the issue. Not to mention that with the whole system independently developed domestically, they can export the technology and help other countries to build their transportation system.
yes this is an incredibly well put together video - full of technical data to support its analysis. and then delivered in very factual manner. very comprehensive but succinct. Great video.
I have travelled on the Chinese high speed network. It is simply mind blowing, including the stations. The system of waiting rooms and the way in which you board the train are incredibly efficient. Nothing in the western world comes close.
@@CreatorPolar of course. I have travelled on the Spanish and Italian high speed networks and they are fabulous. However, the Chinese have taken it to another level.
@@AreHan1991 Coronavirus was only the first to be discovered in Wuhan. At the same time, a pandemic began all over the world, but there were not many medical records in other parts of China, indicating that the virus did not originate in Wuhan.
Another great presentation!!!! Not so long ago the Western predicted that the high-speed railway in China was a white elephant project and doomed to failure because no one affords to purchase the tickets. LOL. Western politicians only thinking about short profits, while Chinese thinking about long term gains. That is why we will not see high-speed railway in the US.
@@RailwaysExplained Imagine how long it took LA-SF high-speed railway to achieve, well... I don't what to add here. No wonder they predicted that tickets would be sooooo high.
@@quietlives China has the density and corridors to generate sufficient people traffic if not a true profit. The la to sf/Sacramento line is an economic disaster in having stops along the way. In Europe, the high speed train is between tier 1 cities with separate lines for inter-city and another for local stops
This is an idea put forward by a great statesman named Sun Yat-sen 100 years ago. The Communist Party of China has the will to realize Sun Yat-sen's idea!
@@lvjinbin28 agreed, China is working to wean off of oil as soon as possible with a combination of next generation nuclear reactors, renewables and even fusion hopefully. The latest moon rock samples brought back by China were partly motivated by their interest in searching for Helium-3 deposits that could serve as a fuel source for a future fusion reactor. That and China's newly-opened "artificial sun" experimental fusion reactor gives me hope that China will be the country to lead humanity away from fossil fuels.
I've read that the main cost saver of the Chinese rail is that they can push down prices on critical components. With such vast scale, if you order 1000 trains, even the most expensive components can be produced at an assembly line. The same applies to electrical systems and switches that would cost millions if you only build one train line.
Agree! And also imagine the industry it brought, the suppliers, and more importantly, it pays everything domestically with RMB, it enables the government with more methods when international economy crisis hits (eg. 2020)
Plus china produces large amounts of those within china. The scale of china's HSR lowers the cost-per-unit for china and boosts economy directly [by creating a big customer for steel, cement, etc.] and indirectly [enabling people to get around faster]
The way from my hometown to working city last from 18hours by van in 2003, to 8hours by van on highway in 2005, to 5 hours by CRH train in 2008, to 3 hours high speed train in 2015. I think we should really appreciate the development of the country.
Sounds like me, back in college I had to take an overnight train from a coastal city to my hometown 900km away, that's about a 13 hours travel. Now I can be home in less than 5 hours with metros connecting train stations on both sides, and there is a maglev metro.
in economics we could see the benefit of Chinese railway construction in 2 ways: 1. Keynesian economics - Increase in government spending (building railways) would increase GDP, create jobs and a positive multiplier effect in the economy 2. Supply side - improve infrastructure, improve labor mobility, increase competitiveness and other positive externalities: cost savings from - Reduction in traffic, reduction in pollution, reduction in accidents on roads due to fewer cars, reduction of premature death due to air pollution, etc... only looking at the profitability of the railways is a business perspective, but in China high speed rail is not a business, it is a service for the people, and the government knows that the welfare gain outweighs the debt tremendously
Deeper looks : 1. New cities, new industrial zones, new economic center will be born along the new high speed routes. 2. Increase productivity of passengers by jumping from one city to another significantly faster instead of wasting valuable times on the road. 3. Diversify transportation loads equally between air travel, car travel, sea and river travel, and train travel. This is what we called long term feasibility studies and vision. How about that...?
I'm half-Chinese, and this is part of the reason I'd like to return to China when I retire (which is a long way off, so it should be even better a few decades down the line). Just imagine: just hop into a train and you can travel between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Tibet, Sichuan, Xinjiang etc. It'd be a terrible plan if you are still working (since everybody travels at the same time, during the few public holidays, so all places are absolutely swarmed), but it'd be so awesome during off-season.
haha, great plan! BTW a Tibet HSR line just opened a couple of days ago, I watched a man traveled 3 hours from Lhasa to another city to have lunch with friends and then traveled back to Lhasa by the same train after lunch, it was just mind-blowing. Plus the scenery along the way was just breathtaking. (Here is the link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UWnmUbsO1C8.html) I so want to try that train...
Easy way to rough calculate the ticket price for the high-speed train： 0.5RMB or 0.076USD per km, like Beijing-Tianjin（first high-speed line in China）is 113km，ticket price is 55 RMB(8.4 USD). But the longer the distance, the lower the average price ，like Beijing-Shanghai is 1302km， ticket price is 550 RMB(84 USD), and Beijing-Guangzhou is 2118km, and the ticket is cheaper on average which is 860 RMB(131 USD), well all this price is for the 350km/h line, and secondary line price is even cheaper.
In fact, it is not, at least for railways (in most countries). On other side, economic and transportation needs still must be well evaluated in order to justify every such construction.
Reborn 2020 it's the same as roads. Are they profitable? How come we don't charge for all roads? We pay for it with our taxes. Instead of fighting dumb wars and other countries, we spend on ourselves. Radical thinking, I know.
@@RailwaysExplained Is social welfare profitable? Just think Chinese HSR as a kind of social welfare that the Chinese government is providing to its people. The HSR helps people travel through out the country in a cheaper and cleaner way. And American highway system is also not profitable since the federal government has to invest billions of dollars into maintaining the roads and they don't earn any profit for the government.
@@Giruno56 The leadership in Taiwan considers Taiwan to be part of China. Between the CPC and the leadership in Taiwan there is agreement that China is one country. Cross-Strait issues are a very nuanced field for which entire courses of study are dedicated on the mainland and Taiwan.
The vast supporting infrastructures built are equally phenomenal - new clean energy & hydro dams in the west transported via new ultra high voltage lines, tens of thousands of new bridges through all types of terrains, raw materials such as cement and metals staggering output. Good video!
This is what happens when you have a consistent policy for 10 years from a central government. This couldn’t happen in US since we have Federal government and state government, also every 4 years, we will reshuffle the governments again.
That's what happens when people have zero personal freedom, when the government is completely undemocratic, and when you have unlimited slave labor from ethnic minorities
@@jonalderson5571 lol, sleepy Joe replaces manic trump. I love the direction the US is going in. Oh, and Europe has a new trade deal with China, US is simply falling behind.
One biggest advantages of China's HSR is the convenience when there is such a large scale network. The HSR in China is almost like a subway metro: I once arrived in a HSR station 15~20 min before the next train left (the train station was much smaller than the ones in the cities). I basically got off the train, rushed to the ticket machine, bought the ticket, and rushed to the next train, and done. If I missed the next train, then I only needed to wait for 1~2 hrs for the next train. Anyway, I always bought the tickets on the spot (except in the holiday seasons). There was just so much less stress traveling in China with HSR than airplanes. With airplane, I basically start worrying the day before the departure time about what if I did not arrive in the far-away airport on time? With HSR, the answer is I can take the next train.
"If I missed the next train, then I only needed to wait for 1~2 hrs for the next train. " Huh, is that a good thing when trains in many other countries run every 30 minutes or so, and have full flexibility (no need to arrive more than a few minutes in advance, and tickets valid for each train on that day)? I'm not saying the Chinese HSR system is not good, but if you really want to feel like a subway system, maybe take a look at the Tokaido Shinkansen in Japan.
@@anonomia5535 The HSR between shanghai and beijing runs every 20 mins, 1300km. If the waiting interval is longer than 1hr, I suppose it's a long long distance ride, over 10hrs. Plane will be better option. Shinkansen is equally good by design, however it's expensive. The ticket price be like 7-8 times of chinese price, to cover same distance. Usually I would fly to destination directly, say Kyoto, instead of flying to Toyko then koyto by Shinkansen. Limited Express is more affordable. It's just my opinion.
I didn't mean to compare the technical differences between train systems (they're both good), but it just surprised me someone compared the Chinese railway system with a subway system, while, in fact, it is really set up like aviation. In China, you have to book your tickets for a specific train and for a specific seat, just like when taking a plane. Trains don't run frequent on most routes - you often have to plan in advance. You have to go to a train station which is usually quite far outside of the city, and have to be there quite long in advance due to the security checks etc. The stations themselves also look a bit like airports. Then, when the train is coming, the boarding procedure looks like boarding a plane. I have lived in Japan myself, and there, it is entirely the opposite. Also in Western Europe, trains tend to be quite frequent and flexible, making it possible to use them for commuting (which is not really feasible in China). Then the price. Of course the Japanese trains are more expensive: people have a much higher purchasing power there, on average. However, the difference is more like 3-4 times, not 7-8. As an example: Tokyo-Kyoto costs 128 USD, Shanghai to Wenzhou (similar distance) around 35 USD. I find both quite expensive in their respective countries.
This is not so different in magnitude from the construction of the interstate highway system in the USA between 1960 and 1975. Something that was never required to turn a profit. I wonder how much the legal environment facilitated this rail project and hinders anything similar in the US in the 21st century. I doubt it would be possible for the US to build the interstate system today post NEPA.
Good point. When constructing such kind of network infrastructure, incomes should at least cover certain percent of construction and maintenance costs. For the US highway network, at the beginning it was around 70%, now it's even less. However, there are indirect benefits that are taken into account, as we said. Cost-benefit analysis is used in such cases for example. And by the way, we are planning to make a video about SF LA HSR soon, so will discuss that in more detail.
One major impetus for the interstate highway was the facilitation of rapid troop, weapon systems and military equipment deployments to all corners of the US. A product of the cold war.
@@edukid1984 Nobody can even dream of invading US. Considering the number of guns US civilians have, every state can create their own army. Only way to damage US is either via economy or nukes.
In 1998, China started its first high speed rail line with the ~150km Guangshen Express between Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It was just this one line until 2008.
The revival of a great civilization back into the most modern civilization without any discontinuation! Unbelievable efficiency with most effective productivity! A great presentation, indeed! All the best China!
Yes subtitles. My hearing is not that good I hope more channel used subtitles it can help mute and deaf people. You just don't know how big the impact of subtitles to other ❤️
Hello guys, another good video, thank you for your work, I appreciated it, the videos are well... explained ! Salutations from a rail worker from France.
How passenger railway networks can be enormously socially and economically beneficial even if the railway operator runs on losses cannot be stressed enough! In the West (especially in the US) we often suffer from a business ontology mindset where all non-profitable enterprises and services are seen as wasteful and therefore are always under threat of being cut so as to not "burden the taxpayer". This is an extremely narrow-minded view that fails to take into account positive externalities that these socially useful goods create that in the bigger picture generate more economic value overall as well as other things that cannot be measured in monetary terms. The exemplary accomplishments of China's high speed rail megaproject also highlights that large scale infrastructure projects need good planning, extensive coordination and cooperation between it's many involved sectors, and long term and consistent support and commitment. Fail to do this and you have a project beset by delays and cost big cost overruns. China not only achieved a very coordinated, systematic, and strategic approach to high speed rail development, but also demonstrated it's planning flexibility by integrating the project as a core part of it's economic stimulus program during the Great Recession that helped it to become the only major economy to not go into recession in 2009. Many other countries could certainly benefit to take tips from the Chinese example for their infrastructure programs. China's railway project is an amazing achievement that really highlights the government's commitment to developing the country into a prosperous nation and advanced power. The railway project will also become a crucial part of transitioning to a low-carbon economy in the future as China takes on a crucial role in mitigating climate change. I look in awe and pride as a fellow human being at the accomplishments of the country not only in rail but also in its other numerous and impactful projects, and look forward to its future accomplishments in the realm of rail (especially the maglev system they are developing) and elsewhere.
The first thing you mentioned (that railways are expected to be profitable in the West), does not seem true to me. Besides Japan, I don't think any country has a profitable railway system. I know that profitability in the US may be seen as important, but also there, many lines are subsidized by the state governments because of their social desirability. However, the West is more than the US. In Europe, many countries have an extremely high railway density. For example, Germany has around 5500 train stations, as much as in the much larger country of China. Most of those stations, some even only see a few passengers per day, are served by trains (at least) every hour. Do you think this is profitable? No, obviously not. Is anyone talking about cutting train services? Not really. On the contrary, train services increase year by year, and railway traveling is stimulated in various ways (by the recent tax cut for train tickets, for example). To be clear: Germany is just an example, but this applies to several other countries as well. Train travel is seen as socially and environmentally beneficial in many countries.
Take a look at this global railway map, for example. You can immediately see that the railway network in China isn't that exceptional in terms of density. www.openrailwaymap.org/?lang=en&lat=50.90996067566236&lon=3.27392578125&zoom=6&style=maxspeed
Why not? A Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney route seem to make a lot of sense. Though knowing the size of your country, the distances involved might be a lot greater than they seem on a map
In India we actually constructed 35 km + metro line above the ground in less than one year because of the rising need and governments development policies from the central government but in next year due to state governments interfere we were able to construct a whopping 6.7 km of metro lines 😁 in more than a year . Great isn't it. See it just depends on the necessity of a country and it's government
@Aamir Khan We see it as centralized leadership but some like to call it dictatorship to justify their government's inability or "Laissez Faire" approach in getting anything done. The irony is, this so called freedom and democracy allows people to become flipping selfish, disunited, create plentiful of bureaucracy, corruption and a waste of national talents as nothing ever get done. The only rights that is left is the freedom to hate with their free speech.
@Aamir Khan the free spirit (I mean free to wear a mask or not \free to smoke marijuana \free to own a gun ) can't make long term plan and long term projects and long term success .I love your movies ,could you please give me your signature 😂
Thank you for this video! I’m a huge fan of trains and I had the amazing experience of riding high speed trains in China, and also the maglev! It’s insane and I wish my home country had something similar
Very professional and informative with the numbers and statistics......Wow! As a Chinese oversea learned a lot from your video. Thanks for the great job!
Interesting fact on the Chinese HSR - Liu Zhijun - the former Chinese Minister for Railways and father of China’s HSR program - was sentenced to death in 2015 for corruption and pocketing public funds. During his tenure, Liu pocketed $225 million USD worth of public funds that were meant for HSR projects, and even demanded a 4% commission on all HSR contracts as “finders fee”... Later it was found that Liu deposited some of that money in U.S. and European banks and used the money to purchase luxury properties for his family in California. The real figure of Liu’s embezzlement of HSR funds could be in the billions of USD as Chinese authorities still haven’t finished their investigations.
@@rickr9435 US infrastructure is dated and need maintenance. But that's not the main problem. In US the congress is strict in government spending so infrastructure investment is largely by private companies. Private companies need to profit. You cannot expect private companies to carry out a 20-30yr plan to benefit the entire country in the future.
this is actually true. china will eventually run out of feasible project and then their excess production capacity will flood international markets even more ..
hsr also saves time that you need to spend on security checks in airports, there are still security checks in train stations in China but the process is much simpler, you don't need to take your laptop out for example, thus less waiting time it needed. Fun fact: You don't need to take off your shoes in airports' security checks in China.
What’s the most efficient way to transport 1.4 billion people? Do you know how many 3 class a380 would be needed to replace one 3 class 16 sets train cars? About 3... If China rely on slow train or only planes, their transport system would break down on the largest human migration in the world...
One of the things that are remarkable about taking the HSR train in China is that most passengers fiddle with their phones or work on their computers, sending messages, playing games or watching videos, while travelling at 200km, 250km, 300km or even 350km an hour. If you do video calls, the call quality may not always be ideal, but the loss of all data or phone coverage almost never happens while you're on the train, even while going through remote areas or long tunnels. Virtually anybody who buys anything on the train pays for it with the phone as a matter of course, exactly as everywhere else in China, which is only possible when internet connection is always assured. Here in North America, a good excuse for not answering the phone o replying to an e-mail is that I was walking the trail outside the city.
no, not 100% accurate. when u travel in the southwestern mountains, u would still lose signals when the train races at 200km in the tunnels. There are so many tunnels one after another for hours.
@@blackwarrior7473 Good to know. Thanks. I haven't taken the newer HSR lines in the Southwestern mountains. My experiences are with HSR trains outside of those mountains. Would love to go through all those tunnels one after another for hours.
YES I saw the article on xinhua, very cool. In US, trucking industry lost hundreds of billions of dollars due to road closures, collapsing bridges, constant need to repair, soon China will be so ahead of everybody that anyone who does business will come to China, just for the infrastructure. I laugh at the people who said high speed train does not "make profit".
trying to base you Public transport needs based on Profitability is the Same thing as Basing your need for Sewers line on Profitability. It's better to build them and pay whatever they cost or your going to be stuck in Sh*t.
Many sore westerners claim the high speed rail project got $70 billion in debt and something and it'll make Chinese economy collapse. Economy growth depends on transportation. With the construction and operation, it gives opportunity to a whole chain of industries. research & development, manufacturing, construction, intercity & interprovincial trade and tourism. More jobs are created. People in remote area get to ship their goods further for cheaper price. People can commute further. The Spring Festival migration will become less chaotic. The more convenient the transport, the more social & economical benefit there is. And don't forget the government tax these profits and incomes. And that's how the debts are gone. Easy. It may costs billions of dollars and give the corporations and government a hard time, but in terms of long-term planning, there's more benefit than drawback.
China is an amazing country for railways-lovers, with its urban and high speed rail. However, is seems China's regional/suburban rail has room for improvement. Thanks for another amazing video.
I took a 1,200 km regular train from Beijing to Xian (Terra-cotta Army). Departing 8:40 pm arriving next day 8:29am. I paid ¥753 ($114) per ticket for a private two-bed cabinet including a washroom with my wife. This was comfortable and better than high speed train because all HS trains depart at am to early pm time. Even though it takes 4-5 hours to get there and costs only ¥535 ($81), but by the time I get their I would have lost half day on the train doing nothing. Because of arriving earlier, I managed to go to two spots instead of just one if I take high speed rail. Travel tip: remember take regular train # Z19
I like to take slower sleeper trains to save a night of hotel and day time traveling as well. Did that in China and Spain. The experience in both trips are good.
travel by regular train enjoys some additional flexibility; travellers could stop and deboard at any station en route and elect to delay their onward travel by up to 24 hours free of charge.
Long-term plans like this can only be followed when the people that were in power at that time remain in power. Just imagine your long term plan not being followed by the next elected president/goverment. Such plans can only be completed when people of good will are placed in positions of power for a long time!
america spent $4 trillion dollars of taxpayer’s money over 20 years in wars in afghanistan and iraq whereas china built 36,000 km of high speed tracks connecting all first tier and 2nd tier cities in 12 years using $1 trillion .
in addition to the high speed trains, for metro lines open 2021&near future in China (around 1250km will completely open in 2021 this year(250km for beijing/shanghai/guangzhou/shenzhen,1000km for other cities) Shanghai： 2021: Line 14 the rest part of Line 18 Guangzhou: 2021 Line 18-fastest city metro train nationwide Line 22-fastest city metro train nationwide Line 7 west extension to Shunde district in Foshan city Line 2 of Foshan city connect Guangzhou south railway station Xicun station & Caihongqiao station of Line 8 north extension 2022 Line 5 east extension Line 11-circular line the rest part of Line 18 the rest part of Line 22 2023 Line 3 east extension connect Haibang station of Line 4 Phase 2 of Line 7 Phase 2 of Line 13 Phase 2 of Line 14 Line 10 Line 12 Line 3 of Foshan city 2024-2027 Line 8 east extension Line 18 north extension to airport area along with the Pearl River Delta intercity railway system Line 22 north extension to airport area along with the Pearl River Delta intercity railway system Line 24 Line 28 Shenzhen 2021 Line 20 2022 Line 6 branch line Line 12 Line 14 2023 Line 13 Line 16 2024-2025 Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Line 8 east extension Beijing 2021: Capital Airport Express extend to Beixinqiao Line 8 North-south connection Line 11 Winter Olympics branch line Line 14 East-West connection Line 17 Phase 1 Line 19 Phase 1 S1 Line Jin'anqiao to Pingguoyuan 2022: Line 12 Line 16 Southern section Line 17 Northern section Daxing Airport Express extend to Lize Business District Changping Line Phase 2 Line 1 Fushouling station reopen
There are reasons why China managed fast and cheap construction of the rail line: 1. Land acquisition: no one can own a piece land in China. As such people who lived where the rail line would be built had to relocate with minimal compensation. 2. Most of China is undeveloped: upgrading any form of capital is a lot costly than building from scratch. That’s how China and the Middle East cities like Dubai managed to build a city quickly and cheaply. 3. Minimal environmental consideration: literally everything was done to get the straightest line possible. Anything it got into straight line path was removed with minimal environmental consideration.
@angadveer singh norway do not even have bullet trains.. china is number 2 economy of 16 trillion dollars while india is 3 trillion dollars and china and india has the same population... so sad for india...
China is not spending $13 billion dollars for one aircraft carrier, $ 325 million dollars/FA jet (each carrier has at least 12) like America is. Our military/industrial society has gone mad.
US highway network is not profitable, but it becomes vital for US transportation. The "profit' can only be measure in social and economic benefit for the whole country.
That's interesting actually. At the beginnings, tolls could cover up to 70% of costs of construction and maintenance in the US. Now that share is far less according to some info that we have. Rest is payed by taxes. Maybe someone knows more detail?
@@EkantBhairab Actually now in 2021. No. Today most of the Indian network, 70% is electrified and India is also moving to 100% electrification. So No. I don't know whether you're Indian or not. But don't spread such Bullshit.
@@EkantBhairab then your country is not India or India in a parallel world as of 2021. Being an Indian I know my country's emotion, our thinking, and our capabality. You're not an Indian. So a big F to you. But you do sound like Pakistani. I mean from your mentality there's a high chance you're Pakistani. If you're a Pakistani then a big F. نام بدل کے کچھ نہی ہوگا اور ایک بات ٹوںٔیلیٹ کی کمی پاکستان میں ہے ہندوستان سے زیادہ ۔
If my country is an open toilet i have to accept it. What's wrong in accepting the fact.you should learn to accept the truth. We indians should learn to speak the truth. Only then we can mitigate the crime in our society, our society is full of criminals.
Like public transit and mandatory education, profitability isn’t the only consideration. Anyone that have stuck for hours in traffic on heavily trafficked route knows the feeling
These high speed trains in China are clean, fast, very comfortable, lots of legroom, reliable (I'm NOT being payed by the chinese gvt😉). It is much easier and faster to go to most cities by train than by airplane(much faster boarding), even some small towns are now connected by high speed train. Trains/public transport should NOT be operated to make a direct(short term) profit because they are a vital part of the infrastructure of any country and generate INDIRECT profits to the economy and society as a whole. It's just like other state institutions the police, education, public healthcare, armed forces etc.they all create an INdirect advantage and make it possible to profit in the end. It's also like investing in your own education or borrow money to buy a new house or business, the goal is to improve/profit in the long term, in the short term it will cost money.
CH!NA : WE NEED SOL!D MASS TRANSPORTATION!!! USA : WE ARE CARS AND BEST HIGHWAYS COUNTRY!!! JAPAN : OK, WE WILL SUPPLY CARS, BUSSES AND TRUCKS TO USA!!!
The World Bank did an in depth report about China's HSR network, probably with the hope that other countries can learn from China. It really is an amazing accomplishment and as someone living in China since 2013, I have been lucky enough to use this most convenient and comfortable and affordable mode of transport to visit many parts of China.
Railway should be evaluated within the same scenario as road transport. It should be seen as a means to improve connectivity within and without the national boundary. In most countries, just because cars are easily purchased by ordinary citizens, most Government subsidy this mode of transport, so why shouldn't railway be seen from the same angle? It is proven that this approach has been conducive to the development of railway system in China and thus benefitted most of the workers who travel into the cities to work at an affordable price when enabling them to stay away from the city center! Keep it going China!!
Everything will change when the so called "external costs" becomes mandatory and integral part of final price of the transport service. Simply put, when both rail and road have to pay for their negative contribution for pollution and congestion, the market will solve everything.
@@RailwaysExplained Yes, this is a quiet good point, if we were to implement the climate change policy thoroughly, we would give a railway transport a fair look. But I'm quiet pessimistic about this in the western countries, since no politician has the gut to ask voters to pay for the invisible cost they produced.
@@lumenyoung In the EU there are many strategic documents already. White book for example. All the investments and reforms that have been made in railways in the last decade are telling these are not just empty words. For example, 2021 has been declared the year of railways. And many other activities. Final goal is to move decent amount of cargo from roads to railways in near future. Green deal should be additional motivation. We'll talk about that once in a video 😊
@@RailwaysExplained , Having involved with logistics issues for a while, the main problem with most railway organizations is they are managed as departments where the managements are really government officials who do not seem to be bothered with any consequences of their behavior. I think among the better performing sector in the US is their Class A railway operators who are rater efficient in comparison with the rest of the industry.
This is definitely possible in the US. The fact that Republicans and Democrats were able to work together to construct the highway system in 1956 for $114 billion which was a large amount of money at the time. The US can always discuss HSR with Japan, Europe, and its Chinese counterparts how to efficiently construct such lines in the US.
It will take Britain 12 years to build the first phase of HS2 and it has taken more than 12 years for California to attempt HSR before canceling most of it.
I'm sure lack of pesky property rights were also very beneficial. This is the largest hurdle in US where majority of cost of such projects consists of buying land.
In the year 2000, I took a train from Taiyuan to Beijing, covering a distance of roughly 500-600 kilometers. It used to take about 10 hours for that journey. But now, from Taiyuan to Beijing, it only takes 2.5 hours, incredibly fast
Oh, by the way, it's worth mentioning that since the economic reforms in China in the 1980s, almost everyone here has become quite pragmatic. While China's railway development has been incredibly rapid, there hasn't been good maintenance and preservation of retired steam locomotives. In the eyes of many Chinese, trains are just a means of transportation, without much sentimental value. In fact, in China, liking trains can sometimes get you teased for being like a child who never grew up. I really admire countries like Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, where they have a strong appreciation for steam locomotives and retired trains. They often bring steam locomotives out for tourism or display, and in this aspect, they're far ahead of China's railways!
Well in China, when building railways the government doesn't think about profitability or making money. They dont care whether those trains make profits or losses as long as they move people smoothly.
There's a thing that not mentioned: CN's large population and traffic demand helps to reduce the average cost to a person and makes the tickets affordable, e.g. My hometown is Tianjin near to Beijing, before HSR era a travel between two cities takes 2h, but after that it takes almost 30min which goes for every 15 min, that means if I want to travel to Beijing I practically don't need to plan the time to depart and book the ticket in advance, and a ticket takes only as much as a meal of McD for 2 people: In fact there are a lot of people who work in megacities(Beijing, Shanghai etc.) but live in cities around 100km away (Tianjin for Beijing, Kunshan for Shanghai etc.) and commute daily with highspeed trains for enjoying the higher income of works at megacities while being free from the high living cost there CN HSR will face some extreme environment that no other HSR even met: HSR to Urumuqi will go through deserts while HSR in northeast provinces need to be prepared for at least -30°C
