200mph 'Orient Express' could get passengers from London to Beijing

[crippen]

200mph 'Orient Express' could get passengers from London to Beijing in just TWO days
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 11:58 AM on 09th March 2010

Rail travel between London and Beijing in just two days could be possible within a decade through an ambitious Chinese project.
The Asian power wants to build the 200mph 'Orient Express-style' rail line through Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia, paying for the entire scheme in return to access to the natural resources of the countries it travels through.
The main line would link London with Beijing via Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Kiev, St Petersburg, Moscow, Astana in Kazakhstan and Khabarovsk in Russia's far east.

Complementing that service would be lines taking passengers to Turkmenistan, Iran and India or Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Chinese railway consultant Wang Mengshu said the 8,150-mile journey would take just two days to complete. To fly to Beijing from London takes about 10 hours.
China already operates the world's fastest train - a 250mph service that links Wuhan and Guangzhou. A similar service in Britain would complete a return journey between London and Edinburgh in just three hours.
'The best case scenario is that the three networks will be completed in a decade,' Mr Wang said.
'It was not China that pushed the idea to start with. It was the other countries that came to us.
'These countries cannot fully-implement the construction of a high-speed rail network and they hope to draw on our experience and technology.'
Mr Wang said his country had offered to bankroll the stretch of railway through Burma in return for a share of the country's lithium stores.
'We would actually prefer the other countries to pay in natural resources rather than make their own capital investment,' he said.


Read more: 200mph train could link London and Beijing in just two days | Mail Online

[FailSafe]

Two days on a train might be preferable to some long plane trips.

Depending on the route I take (I'm still gutted that Thai Airways canceled the direct route from Bangkok) it can take me well over 24 hours to get from Thailand to New York (especially if I have to fly to Bangkok from Phuket or somewhere) when airport waiting times are factored in- being able to stretch out, enjoy the scenery, have a decent meal, etc. doesn't sound too bad compared to long-distance air travel.

[good2bhappy]

roll on
would be the trip of a lifetime
I love train journeys in style

[jandajoy]

Them chinkies want every rock available.

No matter where they are in the world

[Rural Surin]

Them chinkies want every rock available.

No matter where they are in the world

I was under the impression that they did {own every rock}. History cycles, repeating themselves.

[Spin]

Them chinkies want every rock available.

Get them to sort out the UK's rail system. Pay them with Blackpool rock.

[somtamslap]

To fly to Beijing from London takes about 10 hours.

Does it? Thought Bejing was further from London than Bkk..it certainly is on zee map. As for the train link, fanbloodytastic..not being a big fan of flying..I'd go with this option in a heartbeat..wonder how much it'll cost..

[Smug Farang Bore]

could get passengers...........

............Hes gone missing....!

[Belepheron]

Two days by train compared to 10-12 hours by plane.
Out of that two days roughly 50% will be at night, depending on time of year, so you'll see nothing just like being on a plane.
Of the other 50% how much will be spent whanging through endless miles of featurless steppe?
The only good thing is that they'll have a restaurant car with a bar, maybe even a cinema.

No, I'd rather take the plane and have an extra day and a half at destination.

If you really believe that travelling is more about the journey than the destination take an ox cart.

[malako]

It would be good to do once as a novelty thing, even break it up into a 2 week journey getting off at the stops, but I would imagine once would be enough. Good for people who won't fly though..

[Spyker]

I'll do it , probably prefer it more then flying , just hate airports .
Always nice to have another option on how to travel .

[Carnwadrick]

Get them to sort out the UK's rail system. Pay them with Blackpool rock.

Thank you that was very funny

[maraudingscot]

Two days by train compared to 10-12 hours by plane.
Out of that two days roughly 50% will be at night, depending on time of year, so you'll see nothing just like being on a plane.

Very true, but would you be cramped in a seat, person beside you disturbing you for toilet. meals stuffed in your face! and that insane air that they feed you when couped up in a cigar shaped tube hurtling far up in the sky!

Of the other 50% how much will be spent whanging through endless miles of featurless steppe?

Absolute bliss, sitting there relaxing in your seat a drink in front of you, book in hand and scenery parading past you window!

The only good thing is that they'll have a restaurant car with a bar, maybe even a cinema.

even better, you can go for a wander, stretch your legs,

If you really believe that travelling is more about the journey than the destination take an ox cart.

Sounds good, but would take a little tooo long to get there. 2 days is no big loss for arriving at your destination, as a reasonable sane person. Maybe that is what is need for a majority of Farangs that you see wandering around Pattaya

!

[Ningi]

seems like quite a good idea, for many australians it s quite common to spend days on the train travelling as a relaxing way to start your holiday, and for many pensioners the cheapest way to travel as well, the difference would be that the chinese train would be travelling at highspeed, where as for some queensland express trains to average 50 kmhs per hour is considered a result, the train journey from brisbane to mount isa for example 36 hours one way, but very reasonable priced first class cabins , excellent food ,and the cabins are spotless and the service is friendly and always available, so if it s run on these lines the chinese will be a big success

[malako]

I wonder if they will finish building it before Thailand finishes it's airport rail link

[Panda]

A good way to burn up some $US reserves and get some material resources in return. A variation on the old barter system.

[BugginOut]

Humans are still thinking small. Try this:

A vactrain is a proposed, as-yet-unbuilt design for future high-speed railroad transportation. This would entail building maglev lines through evacuated (air-less) or partly evacuated tubes or tunnels. Though the technology is currently being investigated for development of regional networks, advocates have suggested establishing vactrains for transcontinental routes to form a global network. The lack of air resistance could permit vactrains to use little power and to move at extremely high speeds, up to 6000-8000 km/h[citation needed] (4000-5000 mph or 5-6 times the speed of sound at sea level and standard conditions), according to the Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering program "Transatlantic Tunnel".



San Francisco to Beijing in an hour or so. This would be worth the investment.

[FailSafe]

Sub-orbital aircraft will probably be the "next big thing" as far as high-speed travel goes- Richard Branson is already throwing quite a bit on money at the development of the technology.

[Mr R Sole]

London to Beijing in just TWO days

You are joking right???? What about the wet leaves!!!!
take about The UK side would be all crappy sandwiches and over priced beer....then you'd get to France and that would be all Great sandwiches (baguettes) and over priced wine...etc etc until you got to Thailand..

Where you'd be ripped off from entry to exit and charged for 'damage' to the train, then beaten to a bloody pulp before you threw 'yourself' from the nearest train balcony...

[Thetyim]

Going by the price of other up market trains it will probably be cheaper to buy your own Lear Jet

[English Noodles]

Does it? Thought Bejing was further from London than Bkk..it certainly is on zee map.

Bangkok - London 5930 miles / 9544 Km Flight Path -38 degrees from North. 11h 52m at 500mph (804.67 Km/hr)

Beijing - London 5070 miles / 8160 Km Flight path -36 degrees from North. 10h 8m at 500mph (804.67 Km/hr)

[Ningi]

Going by the price of other up market trains it will probably be cheaper to buy your own Lear Jet

at the moment it costs 8oo pounds sterling to travel by train and bus from london victoria to singapore, get on or off anywhere you want, as usual plenty of sarcastic comments but nothing constructive.

[Mr R Sole]

I was told by a geezer off the trains that it costed 70k from BKK to Singers????? I imagine that's first class...800 nicker...Do you have to sleep with the livestock for that price???

[slackula]

It would be a fun journey to take, but I doubt it will ever come to fruition - the tracks will make too tempting and easy a target for the nutters out there.

[Smug Farang Bore]

^Correct, look what they do to the oil pipelines.