Official media reports suggest Chinese leader appears to be taking bullet trains more often when he goes on tour, with sources and observers saying railway offers security and flexibility, and more opportunity to see what’s happening on the ground.

Unparalleled, nation-wide coverage has virtually turned China’s high-speed rail network into a giant version of a city’s metro grid.

These trains run at 300-350 km/h, while being both a lot cheaper and more convenient than flying.

When the next generation of 600-km/h maglev trains come fully into service, there’s going to be no point in flying at all.

    • cfgaussian
      11·
      11 months ago

      Theoretically it could be done in 11 and a half hours, but practically the train doesn’t always go at top speed and there are stops along the way so more realistically something like 13 and a half to 14 hours. Perhaps a little more if there are delays here and there.

      Edit: this was assuming that the track goes in a straight line as the plane flies, in reality the distance the track covers would be slightly longer just like when you’re driving, so add another 10%. It’s still much faster than driving and way less stressful than flying.

    • M500@lemmy.mlEnglish
      6·
      11 months ago

      About the same as a plane if it was a direct next gen maglev.