Enough Supertrains--China Needs To Fix The System

Super-fast, beautifully-designed trains are the all the rage again in China, but safety, pricing, and technology concerns now need to be bumped to country's rail priority list to make it work.

1 minute read

January 13, 2012, 12:00 PM PST

By Judy Chang

"In short, China needs to rethink how it spends money on rail. That may happen. Although it did not receive the same attention as the supertrain, Sheng Guangzu, the railway minister, was recently quoted by China Daily, an official organ, as saying that there are now plans to slash the investment budget for railways to 400 billion yuan ($64 billion) in 2012-some 44% below the level in 2010. If that makes for a better rail network, then many Chinese will agree that speed is not everything."

Thanks to Michael Snidal

FULL STORY: Less express

Saturday, January 7, 2012 in The Economist

Government / Politics Infrastructure Social / Demographics Technology Transportation China Rail View More

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