#DavidTrainMic

There's one High Speed line around Beijing which has — just four trains a day — serving Daxing Airport. This has David Feng more than a bit concerned — obviously a bit more than the once-a-week (probably) Parliamentary train on Chiltern Railways between London Paddington and West Ruislip. But is it a new line well used? Well, at least, it's there, good to go, with actual trains in actual operation!...

David Feng recorded this actually onboard a train — a service from Daxing Airport to Tianjin West. He talks about how these stations will get new lines — but also how the railways now run services across many lines in a far more streamlined way, integrating more of the network together.

Shanghai Hongqiao railway station in China's largest city is big — busy — connected — and yet, the Express Transfer routes for making train connections is far from ideal.

Either you have to haul your baggage up stairs — or wait for a lift that, too quickly, and too often, gets crammed with passengers...

(But then again, this is one of the earliest interchange hubs in the network...)

An important update from David Feng and the DavidTrainMic mini-podcast... we are moving to daily updates!

Overloaded trains remain a problem in South Asia — Bangladesh, in particular, but India is also seeing a lot of riders. In China, this was previously a problem as well — people were even getting onboard via the windows!... Things are, however, quite different these days in the High Speed era...

Want to take a sh*t in China's railway stations? Not so fast. To the uninitiated, half trying to use a squat toilet can well be folks to feel it's s like bloody murder. Yet it didn't have to be... and thankfully, it's no longer really the case. The throne toilet we're used to is making its way back...

What's the "tallest" (as in: station at highest elevation) High Speed railway station in the world? Much as yours truly is a Swiss, it's not in Switzerland — or Europe. Enter Shandan Racecourse/Shandanmachang railway station, which at around 3'600 metres above sea level, is as "up high" as it gets for an HSR station...

Talk about spending time in front of the onboard microphone! Classic Rail services in China are known to have long, varying-in-topics, music-rich, and occasionally news in the onboard announcements. You're told how long your next leg will be, but also how to stay alert and avoid fraudsters on the go. Love it or loath it, it's what makes Chinese Classic Trains — the Green Trains — them, themselves!

Loud/annoying/effective enough door close chimes fast/slow enough to ensure ontime departures? Thick enough rubber strips to prevent the door slamming into your fingers and crushing your bones? As a commuter, specialist, enthusiast, and just everyday-traveller with the railways, I've been on, or seen, some networks where doors are done right — and some that struggle. The last thing we want is for people to be dragged with a door shut — and rider taken hostage!

It's supposed to be a Green way to get around, but pre-2008, the Beijing Subway suffered from a paper-intensive, outdated ticketing system making frequent journeys rather less attractive. These days, though, it's all smartcards and QR codes, making the system smarter — and genuinely Greener...