Hong Kong approves high-speed rail link to Mainland
 

A controversial $8.6 billion plan to link Hong Kong to China's national high-speed rail network won approval from local lawmakers Saturday, leading to scuffles between police and protester opposed to the project.

The measure to build the railroad plus accompanying road and infrastructure to connect Hong Kong to the mainland system passed the Chinese territory's legislature 31-21, according to the government.

The project has run into heavy opposition and triggered protests in recent weeks because of concerns it will displace many residents and cause major traffic congestion and other environmental problems.

Hong Kong officials, however, say most of the public supports a project they say will offer a big economic boost to the territory by cutting train travel time to key mainland cities.

Once the railroad is completed, Shanghai will be an six-hour journey and Beijing 8 hours, offering the many Hong Kongers working on the mainland a cheaper and efficient alternative to air travel. Currently, rail trips to Shanghai can take about 20 hours and to Beijing around 24 hours.

environmental problems my ass

they protest the potential chinese cheap labour

Heck, I'd take the rail. What's to complain?

BS. Who the hell will take train to Shanghai & Beijing anyway.
if you have been to any train station in mainland China :rolleyes:
You will be getting rob 20 times before you arrive Shanghai.

^I was on a Train in Central China, and it actually wasn't that bad. [ That was almost 10years ago.]

You won't get robbed 20times but you would see 20+ poos on the train.

no.... the high speed rail stations are empty.... cuz the average person in china can't fucking afford to ride it, and it cost more then riding a plane

hahaha, first thing i thought was this
:lol:lol:lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIiLu...layer_embedded

When will it be completed?

Last April, I spent over 2 days on trains in China, and while they are not the most comfortable, they are safe....and I don't even speak Mandarin!!!

Tonight
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^ LOL funny ass video

^ The trains definitely aren't luxury, but highspeed is sure nice. Current trains (as of 2009) only average about 100km/h.

Taking a 12h ride between Beijing and Xian in 3rd class (1st and 2nd class were full) was definitely the crappiest ride in my life. 1 toilet for every ~300 mainlanders. Grossest toilet I've ever used in my life, hands down.

Xian to Nanjing is 16h. We decided to pay the extra $80USD and fly. :lol

we all know why the hongers are complaining... they don't want easier access for the mainlanders to get into HK; so racist and prejudice

You would probably hate on them too if you've seen how they act in HK.

I'm sure most honger's can overlook their behavior over the $ they spend there.

I took the shanghai - beijing train, it was more comfortable than a ride on the vancouver skytrain.

Shanghai- Hangzhou is also excellent.

robbed 20X my ass.

I've taken the shanghai magnet train, and its quite comfortable! I've also taken the Taiwan bullet train, which was pretty comfortable as well. Speed wise, shanghai takes it!

Many people have a lot of misconceptions about China.

If you are in a big city, out and about during the day time you'll be fine. Just use your diligence - I wouldn't be flashing money or expensive jewerllly that you own. Stay away from giving money to panhandlers and the more shady areas of town.

In general the high speed rail will be a benefit to HK, SZ, Shanghai and Beijing. Travel times will be greatly reduced, transportation readily accessible and economic activity will certainly improve. The trains will be high speed and not your run of the mill sub 100 km/hr skytrain or regular train system we have in North america.

I wish we had a super rail that linked up the West Coast (Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fran, LA). 1 Hour trip to Seattle or 5 Hours to SF / LA anyone? Its probably a crap shoot but I see it happening 10-20 years down the road when the population and the economics justify the investment needed in the infrastructure.

I can see why the HK public is in protest to the high speed rail. Many of the production and manufacturing jobs have already been lost to the cheaper labour in China. When/if the line is completed - more jobs will likely go North and not to mention the influx of Mainlanders flooding into HK.

What's the story with the hongar video posted above?

o noes more main landers picking their toes + shitting on trains

This is true
And so is this!

Another concern is that mainlanders take a lot of the entry level jobs that HS kids would normally be getting. I don't think it's that big a deal.

But I doubt any of this has to do with the high speed rail line.

its the local high school kids thats stupid... all they do is take K in class... can't blame the mainlanders taking up all the entry level jobs

OP: do you mind posting the address of the source?

Those aren't even the main issues proposed by the opposition.

The following are the main issues:

1) The Hong Kong government has been stingy on social wellfare programs. The very uneven wealth distribution is pissing off a lot of people and these people think that US$8.6 billion could be better spent elsewhere.

2) The high-speed rail plan for Hong Kong was/is still not well-thought out. (a) There's only one station located at Kowloon, half of Hong Kong's population lives in the New Territories and the people who live there are not likely to travel south to Kowloon before traveling north to the mainland; (b) The increase of the proposed budget of US$4.x billion in 2008 to US$8.6 billion in 2009 for 26km of tracks (around the distance from UBC to Burnaby) shows that the Hong Kong government simply underestimated the whole project. The increased cost in construction material did not account for the one fold increase.

3) Despite being twice as fast as the existing rail, the bottle neck of the high-speed rail will most likely be the border crossing(s). The Hong Kong government currently has no vision of what the border crossing(s) will be like; however, the passengers will most likely have to go through 2 border crossings at Lok Ma Chau and Futian in order to get into the mainland or into Hong Kong. In the end, the time of travel including customs clearance will be far from twice as fast.

4) The proposed fare of the new rail is lower than the fare of the existing rail. Even if they manage to not run the high-speed rail at a loss after taking into account the maintenance-related costs, they will not manage to cover the construction cost in the next 30 years.

5) Last but not least, they are simply redistributing some passengers from other means of transportation to the high-speed rail. The amount of passengers who will travel from the mainland to Hong Kong and vice versa will generally remain the same. It's not going to create substantial "new opportunities" as the Hong Kong government claimed.

I support the construction of the high-speed rail; but only because I know the Hong Kong government well enough that even if they don't spend US$8.6 billion on the railway, they will not spend it on wellfare programs.

sweet for the tourist

http://i1.hk/d/attachments/day_10011...rlf1W2abTc.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/...66e8774f_o.jpg

HAHAHA, I'd do her