One Month of High-Speed Travel

One month ago Beijingers, China, and the global media were held captive by the long-awaited start of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed train. Since then, the news has shifted from high expectations to underwhelming reality as trains broke down, stations crumbled and smiles turned to tears.

Since the inaugural journey on June 30, Beijing-Shanghai high-speed trains have come to a halt on the tracks a handful of times, with the most recent incident happening last Monday. The breakdowns have generally been attributed to power failures caused by heavy rains or high winds.

The reoccurring delays and breakdowns have been good news for the airlines. With the promise of lower prices and the chance to avoid flight delays, people initially rushed to the trains and away from the planes. In an attempt to lure passengers back, airline tickets were then dramatically cut to prices even lower than the train's RMB 550 (2nd class, 300km/hr) train ticket. Over the last month, however, airline prices and passenger numbers have gone back up. The train is no longer seen as a reliable option, and sitting in an airport seems preferable to a stifling cabin without water and air conditioning. Adding to that, the recent Wenzhou rail disaster has left many worrying whether safety standards are up to par as China rushes out its high-speed trains.

Adding insult to injury, the newly opened Nanjing train station, one of five major terminals along the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line, is already crumbling and under repair. Moreover, after the initial rollout of more than 60 trains a day, authorities have already ordered cuts in service; certain trains have not been filling enough seats to justify continued runs. There are even concerns over leaked personal information on the new tickets.

the Beijinger certainly wasn't immune to the thrilling possibilities of the new bullet train; we posted plenty ourselves in the lead-up. There were pretty girls in training, learning to smile with their eyes and preparing themselves for the excitement of the life of a train attendant. Unfortunately, some of those smiles didn't stick when confronted by angry passengers. Meanwhile, other riders brought unexpected comedy and delight to their fellow passengers.

In the end, all of these glitches are just the growing pains of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line – more or less inevitable, but the line was doomed to disappoint given the lofty expectations. When the trains run well, the journey is well worth it, but nobody should expect even the fastest bullet train to outrun the possibility of travel problems.