The topic title pretty well sums up the reportage. Not much here that "we" do not already know.
RRCHINA Member # 1514
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We can, of course, but we are smart enough not to do what they did.
amtrak92 Member # 14343
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Chance of safety being questioned wouldn't surprise me. How much profit can be made off it.
TBlack Member # 181
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Gil, I've got to jump in here. There was an article in the WSJ a couple of days ago about the same opening of the line to Shanghai. In that article it was mentioned that many people had to be "relocated" to accommodate the construction of the line. The line does go along the populous eastern coast. A strong central government can do these things. We don't. Who knows who's right? Tom
TBlack Member # 181
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quote:Originally posted by irishchieftain: You haven't explained how Red China's actions in regards to forced relocation to hurriedly build their HSR is any good to anyone.
I'm not going to try to; that's above my pay grade. TB
George Harris Member # 2077
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quote:Originally posted by irishchieftain: Another example of central planning gone awry: Spain's RENFE built a high-speed line connecting Toledo with Albacete and Cuenca directly. They just shut down the service because an average of only nine people per day were riding it. Toledo's only 50 miles from Madrid, with Cuenca being 117 miles away and Albacete 160 miles away; was a bypass really needed, when one could have just as easily connected in Madrid? (BTW, the AVE's average speed between Toledo and Albacete was a paltry 76 mph, which is slower than the Acela Express.)
There is something fishy here. I think the writer of this article has an agenda that is not being stated. A little digging indicates a few things missed.
In the referenced article, note the sentence, "Instead passengers will have to change trains in Madrid, from which high-speed trains are already operating to the biggest three cities of Castilla-La Mancha. The journey time would increase from two hours and five minutes between Toledo and Albacete to two hours and 28 minutes."
From this it is sounding more like the through business out of Toledo that met the schedules of the trains that bypassed Madrid was not sufficient to keep those trains. It does not sound at all like the track will be sitting there rusting. There are still trains running between Toledo and Madrid and between Madrid and the other points named.
The order in which the places were named is also strange. As the track runs, you go Toledo, Cuenca, Albacete, or Toledo, Madrid, Cuenca, Albacete.
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