World's longest bullet train service begins in China

So huge traffic jams, thirst for gasoline is an improvement? The air is Chinese cities is so poor you need headlights to drive during the day. Just think about all of the people dying from pollution. Do not see any improvement!

Time will tell if their new train works well. Again I wish them my best in it's operation.

We have to hand it to CHINA, just a few years back they only had cheap bicycles, now they not only only have huge traffic jams with lots of CARS, thirsty for GASOLINE, but now they are running circles around Japan, the USA and Western Europe combined! I know China bashers do not want to hear it here on JAPAN TODAY, but we kind of have to learn something from China! How in the heck can they make so many trains etc...while in California they are still stuck in REVERSE debating about some crappy tracks from MODESTO to???

It is my kibo (hope) that the new rail line operate without accidents or other troubles. That the people using it arrive safety to their destinations without delay and in comfort. We must separate rail services or other civilian services from the government. Most people think little about government and elections where they have them. Anyway it should be good service and be of help to people.

China is a vast country whose development can not be achieved without a modern transport system. Mistakes will always happen, but I don't believe the China bushers who say that those mistakes happen because the country is ruled by communists etc. Almost every week there is a terrible train accident in India, the largest democracy in the world. Shall we say those accidents happen because India is a democracy? Some of the criticism are not based on anything but ideology. Whether we love or hate China, China will always be there and we have to learn to live side by side with it in this small planet Earth.

As for the speed it seems to be inflated and will be the fastest train on Earth. We shawl see what happens. My hope is the train service runs right and there are no accidents. So good luck to all who work and ride these rails.

I am sure the Chinese have only employed the best and the brightest engineers and conductors to operate / manage the train

Do you really think China would cut corners and sacrifice safety to claim having the fastest / longest bullet train railway system?

The problem is not one terrible accident per se, but the response to it, which included the extremely odd measure of digging a big hole and burying the train wreck. This demonstrates that, like Japan's nuclear power industry and highway maintenance, politics and expediency trump openness and safety in China's rapid rail system.

I have ridden the bullet train in China before and it was a smooth ride without any incidents.

Bicultural:

This article is about China. Talking about Japanese shinkansen is of no use because they're not available in China. I've taken trains in many East Asian countries, and I haven't had any problems - and the fares are all CHEAP compared to shinkansen.

China is a massive country and urgently needs an expansion in its rail network. This is one of the reasons holding back the development of India.

This is great news not only for CHINA, but for the WORLD, it would be nice if say the USA also learned from CHINA, the USA needs to have nice, high speed trains at least in California and other major parts of the USA. IMHO

I don't think that the problem with the Chinese bullet train is the technology - since the know-how is imported from Europe and Japan - but rather the fact that the Chinese government deliberately prioritized the rapid expansion of their rail network at the expense of safety thinking that nothing could go wrong....but it did. In any case, I think Foxie is right. Rail accidents occur everywhere and even in countries where safety is number one priority.

The Japanese example, on the other hand, is a peculiar and unique case (the only country in which almost its entire economic infrastructure is depended on rail networks). Just think how much trouble the delays of trains and shinkansen cause when a typhoon passes by. Will China ever manage to catch up Japan? Hmm...difficult but not impossible. Difficult because the Japanese have developed an entire mentality around their transportation system and everything works around them - small houses closer to train stations are way more expensive than big houses away from stations, shopping centers and small "downtowns" are developed around stations in the middle of nowhere, commuting with car is usually a big no, etc. This is not something that can be imitated easily, being a social phenomenon. On the other hand, not impossible...because nothing is impossible with the Chinese. Only time can tell.

The line has 35 stops and the "average" speed is 300 KPH? Really? (Yes, I know that some trains won't stop at every station but that is a high average speed nevertheless).

I do not trust their technology at all.

I think it is Japanese (Kawasaki) and German (Siemens) tech that they are using.

Whoops. Pressed submit by mistake. The fact that China is moving step by step to become apart of the world family should applauded. With better train services come more foreigners. More foreigners more openness. I think it's a win win. It may take a long time, but progress is progress. If you doubt it look back at the West's problem with Russia in the 60's.

Wow! People say that China is closed minded then do the same thing!!! A lot of countries have had train accidents. N

foxie, no one has ever died from a bullet train collision or derailment in Japan, and shinkansens have been running for 48 years.

Just give them a break, just because of that one accident! other countries have rail accidents too; they even happen in Japan. I hope that one day they will build one from Beijing to Paris.

No bull. I would probably buy a big life insurance policy before trying it. I do not trust their technology at all.

Riding a bullet train in China would be like flying Amtrack Air in the US

congratulations ! country running faster, far ahead of neighbors !