Spor yang tecepat didunia mulai ini hari beroperasi diRRT.
Kereta Api ini menghubungkan Kota Wuhan dengan Guangzhou yang jaraknya 1000
km lebih.
Spor ini berkecepatan 350 km sejam. Di Jepang 243 km/jam, di Jerman 232
km/jam di Perancis 277/jam.
Pada musim winter ini kita berangkat dari Wuhan dengan pakean tebal karena
hawa udara yang dingin, tiga jam kemudian harus berpakean biasa karena hawa
udara di Guang Zhou subtropis.
Mana yang lebih baik, naik kereta api yang high speed ini atau naik kapal
udara? Kalau dilihat waktunya hampir sama, karena kalau kita naik kapal
udara kita harus pergi ke lapangan udara yang letaknya jauh, tunggu
dilapangan udara, lalu sampai dilapangan udara yang dituju harus naik taxi
lagi yang jaraknya umumnya jauh. Stasion umumnya berada di centrum dari
kota.
Ini adalah competisi, satu konsekwensi dari kemajuan teknologi: Ini yang
dikatakan oleh Lao Zi dan Zhuang Zi bahwa: relasi yang berkompetisi itu
tidak tetap (Bagus-jelek, komfortabel-tidak komfortabel, kuat-lemah), tetapi
valunya (bagus, komfortabel, jelek, tidak komfortabel) tetap. Maka
menghadapi bagus- jelek, kuat-lemah, kaya-miskin, kita harus dengan tenang
menghadapinya, karena relasi dari kedua value itu bisa berobah, tidak tetap.
Salam,
HanHwie-Song
Breda 26 Desember 2009
Wuhan-Guangzhou bullet train link to hit airlines hard
BEIJING, Dec. 26 -- Competition between airlines and rail operators will
further hot up on Saturday thanks to the launch of China's longest
high-speed train link between Wuhan and Guangzhou.
The line stretches more than 1,000 km and will slash the travel time
from Wuhan, Hubei province, to Guangzhou in Guangdong from 10 hours to just
three.
Tickets for the service - which also stops at Changsha, capital of Hunan
- went on sale at new stations in the three cities last weekend, with prices
ranging from 780 yuan ($110) for first class to 490 yuan for second class,
said a joint document released by the National Development and Reform
Commission and the Ministry of Railways.
The link, on which trains will reach a top speed of 350 km/h, is
expected to pose a real threat to airlines running flights linking the
cities.
"High-speed rail has three advantages over air travel: it is more
convenient, more punctual and has a better safety record. This could help
erode the airlines' market shares," said Si Xianmin, chairman of China
Southern Airlines, the largest domestic airline by fleet size.
From today's launch, 38 out of China Southern Airlines' 160-plus
domestic flights will compete with high-speed train links, he said.
A similar service opened on April 1 between Wuhan and Hefei, Anhui
province, had already grabbed half of the passengers traveling from Wuhan to
Shanghai, said Si.
The Shijiazhuang to Taiyuan link, also opened on April 1, caused sales
for China Eastern Airlines' Beijing to Taiyuan flight to slump 36 percent
the following day, while private Spring Airlines reduced its Shanghai to
Zhengzhou flights due to competition from the Shanghai bullet trains,
Beijing News reported.
To deal with this threat, China Southern Airlines last week unveiled
several counter measures, including cutting ticket prices from Wuhan to
Guangzhou by almost half for advanced purchases.
The company also signed a deal with airports in Wuhan and Changsha to
give priority to flights to Guangzhou to ensure punctuality.
If railway chiefs over-cut the number of low-cost tickets on slower
trains, as they did when the country's first high-speed link opened between
Beijing and Tianjin last year, the airlines could win more passengers with
cheap offers, said Zhao Jian, professor with Beijing Jiaotong University.
"But whichever side wins, passengers will be the ultimate winner," he
said.
Wu Wenhua, a researcher with the National Development and Reform
Commission's comprehensive transport institute, said developing high-speed
rail networks is in line with the demand for high-efficiency, low-emissions
transport.
China plans to have high-speed rail services running between 70 percent
of key cities by 2020, which would cover more than 80 percent of the airline
network.
About 16,000 km of railway for 350-km/h trains will be built on the
mainland in the next 10 years, according to a blueprint by the Ministry of
Railways. By 2012, work will be completed on 42 high-speed links covering
13,000 km, the blueprint showed.
(Source: China Daily)
