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Comment by throwaway_yy2Di | Hacker News Reader

"covering a distance in eight hours that is about equal to that from New York to Key West, Fla.,"

So I looked it up: the flight takes 3:17 or 2:49 depending on the direction. (Delta 1343, nonstop, B737. Only flies Saturdays).

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Right, but the train is making multiple stops. People like to talk about the total length of the line, and some people will certainly ride from terminus to terminus, but the vast majority of riders will be traveling much shorter distances that are much more competitive with flying. Around the world the mode share split between flying and high speed rail has been around 50% when the rail trip is four hours, and there are plenty of segments on this line that are shorter than four hours.

Another difference: air travel usually require 3-4 hours more for travel to and from airport, check in, baggage claim. Railroad travel requirements usually a lot simpler and railroad stations usually located near center of city.

The bullet train stations are as inconveniently located as airports though. Beijing south train station is much farther for me than Beijing capital, and the same is true in Changsha and Guangzhou. You've also got to budget time to get through security, but it's more lax than the airport. I fly more often because bullet train tickets can be hard to get, the train ministry isn't as efficient as an airline ticketing outfit.

Also the planes always have at least 30 minutes delay before take-off (here in China),and yes, airports are usually far from the Downtown. Anyway, Trains are much more comfortable, less stressing, you can take more luggage, you can sit at the restaurant, have internet with a 3G stick, play cards and make friends, many trains have a smoking area (in China). I prefer trains over planes every time.

Not sure that I'd consider 'many trains have a smoking area' as a good thing. Last year, I spent two weeks travelling around China via trains, and without a doubt the most annoying part of the experience was the rampant second hand smoke wafting throughout the entire train. While there are designated 'smoking areas' on the trains, they don't work so well when the train staff keep all the doors wide open all the time. And I tried closing them a few times, and less than a few minutes later some 'helpful' train car attendant had re-opened the door. I'm pretty sure I increased my likelihood of contracting lung cancer by a few percentage points from the two weeks that I spent on Chinese trains (not to mention the polluted air throughout the country).

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