Yes, it's about China and their high-speed rail debacle again. If we can't learn from their disastrous mistakes, we can't learn anything from anybody.
They are slowing their trains down. As we've said many times, speed costs. So slowing down their high-speed rail (irony, anyone?) will save them operating costs.
They are taking their currently luxuriously outfitted trains and tearing out all the fancy stuff, replacing it with plain regular seating. They call that, "creating more leg room."
"Ordinary citizens have stayed away from the high-speed rail, which costs roughly three times as much as conventional trains." Isn't that what we have been saying about our own HSR projects? They will be the most expensive train tickets available. So, who will and who won't be riding these trains? You know the answer to that as well as anyone.
And then the question becomes, why are we building a super-expensive rail system for this strata of the population? And, the follow-on question should be, why aren't the rest of us on Main Street raising hell about this and stopping this project in its tracks?
The high-speed rail was also criticized as a "train for aristocrats" when a photograph showing only one passenger in a first-class car was circulated over the Internet.
The CHSRA may not have this in mind, but they don't have to. The message is clear enough. This train is for the hoy-poloy.
"Plans to set up expensive luxurious compartments for the route have been dropped."
This is Communist China, don't forget. So, their executive team gets to make as many foolish expenditures as they wish. There are very, very few (living) NIMBYs in China.
What is so astounding is their obsession with luxury, an obsession that has bitten them in the rear and they must now make radical adjustments. Their High-Speed Rail System wasn't originally intended for the great mass of people who make annual holiday trips back home. They were intended for the upper classes, the senior bureaucrats. They had to confront all the problems that attend such a misbegotten scheme.
In reality, China is not a Communist Country. It's an autocracy with absolute authority and a totally centralized economy. Are they the people whose HSR we want to copy in the US?
Please, please, let us not make the same mistake here.
America, are you paying attention?
==================================================
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201106060203.html
High prices put brakes on China bullet train
BY KEIKO YOSHIOKA CORRESPONDENT
2011/06/07
BEIJING--Mounting costs and prohibitive prices are putting the brakes on China's ambitious high-speed rail program.
The Railways Ministry will cut the maximum speed of the Hexie bullet train from 350 kph to 300 kph, in principle, and lower ticket prices to affordable levels when it revises train schedules in July.
"We can create more legroom for safety and broaden the price range," said Sheng Guangzu, the railways minister.
Ordinary citizens have stayed away from the high-speed rail, which costs roughly three times as much as conventional trains.
A second-class seat on the Hexie costs 490 yuan (about 6,000 yen) between Guangzhou and Wuhan, compared with 140 yuan on a rapid train.
The Hexie will begin running between Beijing and Shanghai at the end of June, with some runs as slow as 250 kph. The service was originally scheduled to start at 380 kph and eventually be raised to more than 400 kph.
Plans to set up expensive luxurious compartments for the route have been dropped.
Hexie, which means harmony, is a political slogan of President Hu Jintao.
A researcher at a government-affiliated think tank said the bullet train actually "harms the image of the Hu administration that shows compassion to the weak" by putting strains on conventional train schedules.
The high-speed rail was also criticized as a "train for aristocrats" when a photograph showing only one passenger in a first-class car was circulated over the Internet.
China began construction of the high-speed rail network in 2005. The network covered a total of 8,358 kilometers as of the end of 2010. China has recorded 486 kph in a test run and set a goal of more than 500 kph.
The country has spent about 2 trillion yen on railways over the past five years. Its railway-related debt has snowballed to about 2 trillion yuan, nearly triple the level at the end of 2007.
The amount is equivalent to more than 50 percent of railway-related assets and, by some estimates, will exceed 70 percent next year.
Zhao Jian, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, said speeds that can be achieved technologically and speeds suitable for commercial operations are different.
"China's railway service has come to a stage in which it takes people's standard of living and management into account, rather than seeking only higher technology levels," Zhao said.
Zhao said China does not need a railway version of the Concorde, the Anglo-French supersonic jetliner that ended its commercial service due to exorbitant fares and environmental problems. China's railway expansion program suffered a setback in February, when Liu Zhijun was dismissed on suspicion of a "serious breach of discipline" after serving as railways minister for nearly eight years.
According to Chinese newspapers, Liu allegedly received 2 billion yuan in bribes from companies in Shanxi province and others over the bidding for high-speed rail projects.
Liu reportedly ordered officials to put safety on the back burner to speed up construction.
The high-speed rail program has also faced criticism from residents over environmental issues, such as noise pollution.
In April, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said it will ask the court to suspend services between Jinan and Qingdao in Shandong province unless environmental problems are rectified.
Residents have complained about noise from the high-speed rail for several years.
"People's voices should be more reflected on public works projects, including the high-speed rail," said Wang Yongchen, the leader of an environmental nongovernmental organization. "It's not surprising that construction costs have increased and the pace of construction has slowed."
