Maximum travel time for daytime trains in Japan is about 6 hours--this appears to hold true for conventional and high speed rail.
The Nozomi from Tokyo to Hakata takes about 5 hours; the Hokkaido Shinkansen, when finished, is expected to be 5 hours from Tokyo to Sapporo
-
-
As for conventional trains--the Super Soya is about 5.5 hours from Sapporo to Wakkanai, the Okhotsk is about 6 from Sapporo to Abashiri
-
Travel times on conventional express trains are about the same as travel times driving on the expressway. HSR is much faster...
-
...than driving times (Tokyo-Hakata is around 13 hours if you drive), but slower than air travel (Tokyo-Sapporo is about 2 hours flying)
-
So I'm inclined to think that the 6-hour limit is a reasonable ceiling for rail service. Counterpoint: China.
-
The high-speed line from Beijing to Shenzhen takes something like 8 hours to traverse, and when it opens, Beijing to Urumqi will be 12 hours
-
The big question: is this viable outside China, in countries where air travel is more affordable? Is it even viable in China?
-
If you had the option to take a 12-hr overnight train from NY to SF, would you, instead of flying? Amtrak currently takes 4 days.
-
Will return to this later, I think
#TrainTwitter
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.