China: Off the rails? | The Economist


The Economist reports China: Off the rails?

Public support for high-speed trains is muted. The trains may reach 350km per hour but fares are proportionately eye-watering. That is all right for well-heeled travellers, happy to have an alternative to flying. But tens of millions of poor migrants who work far afield and flock home for the Chinese new year are being priced out the rail market and have to go by bus (the number of bus journeys is soaring).

So, the wealthy few long-distance rail travellers benefit at the expense of the many? As we learned in Transport Committee, the same applies to the UK’s high-speed rail plans.

There’s much to say, but it’s Sunday, so I’ll simply recommend:

The sooner we learn to put our confidence in unhampered, voluntary social cooperation, the better. In transport, as in all else, we should let markets work.

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