XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: john@jfeldredge.com   
      
   On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 23:42:51 -0800, David Friedman wrote:   
      
   > On 1/30/14, 1:30 PM, Leszek Karlik wrote:   
   >> On Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:20:21 +0100, Thomas Koenig   
   >>  wrote:   
   >>   
   >> [...]   
   >>> Trains are a good alternative for some routes in Germany.  Germany,   
   >>> being a fairly densly popoulated country, has a reasonably dense rail   
   >>> network.   
   >>>   
   >>> The ICE 3 trains between Cologne and Frankfurt airport are quite fast,   
   >>> up to 300 km/h (185 mph).  They run parallel to the Autobahn,   
   >>> and you cannot hope to pass them in a car, even if there is no traffic   
   >>> jam :-)   
   >>   
   >> Also in Spain. SWMBO today has travelled by AVE from Malaga to Madrid   
   >> in less than 3 hours, for approximately the same price as fuel cost   
   >> when driving a car. And in a car, it would take 2 hours more.   
   >>   
   >> Rapid rail is pretty nice in densely populated countries, which I guess   
   >> is why China is so keen on it.   
   >   
   > China as a whole isn't that densely populated, although parts of it may   
   > be--it has a large population but also a large area. Its population   
   > density is about 2/3 that of Germany, a little over half that of the   
   > U.K.   
      
   However, the eastern part, particularly the southeast, is VERY densely   
   populated, and therefore well suited to rail traffic.  The northwest, by   
   contrast, is mostly scantily-settled desert.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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