Premier Wen boards bullet train as Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail starts operation

[xchrom]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-06/30/c_13958712.htm

BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Premiere Wen Jiabao on Thursday joined other passengers to board the first bullet train on the landmark high-speed railway between the metropolises of Beijing and Shanghai, calling it a "new chapter" in China's railway history.

Before an inauguration ceremony held at the Beijing South Railway Station, Wen visited passengers at the waiting hall and listened to a report by the Ministry of Railways (MOR) on the construction and operation of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway.

Wen said the railway's construction was an important decision by the state and of great significance to improve the country's modern transportation system, promote the economic and social development, and satisfy people's need for swift movement.

It took 38 months to complete the 1,318-km railway.

[n2doc]

1. When your factories are going full tilt and you are selling to the world

A nation can afford to improve itself in this way.
We once built a superhighway system that is the envy of the world. Back when we had factories and good paying jobs, and a fair taxation system.
When you are broke from fighting useless wars, borrowing money to pay to oil companies, Big Ag and big pharma, and outsourcing your jobs, you can't.

[xchrom]

2. +1

[WhiteTara]

3. So true. I wish we were just a little more

progressive in our thinking and doing.

[bullwinkle428]

4. GAWD, this is so depressing. I didn't think I'd actually witness the U.S.A.

getting left in the dust over the course of my own lifetime.

[geardaddy]

5. And having a strong centralized government helps, too.