Real High Speed Rail: in China

Here in the U.S., we're still thinking about maybe doing some high speed rail lines. None in Georgia. And even the slow-speed passenger proposed rail network bypasses Valdosta and Lowndes County.

Meanwhile, in China:

(Click on the detail map for the full map from johomaps 2010.)

Those thick blue lines are not planned high speed rail lines: those are operational high speed rail lines. You can ride on them today, faster than 300 miles per hour.

The thin red lines are only 200-250 miles per hour. So you can go almost all the way from Hong Kong to Shanghai at 200 miles per hour or faster.

Or from Beijing to Tianjin it takes about two hours to drive those 80 miles, or 30 minutes by train. It would be faster, but there are two stops.

Or the 1000 kilometers (620 miles) from Wuhan to Guangzhou take about 13 hours to drive, or 3 hours on the train.

For those who say the U.S. can't do rail, here's a map of the U.S. passenger rail network in 1918:

More rail roads kept being added for some time after that, until oil and automobile company collusion did in passenger rail.

If we stopped subsidizing fossil fuels and spent the money instead on renewable energy and railroads, we'd be able to catch up with the Chinese.

-jsq