From Mop:

Sorry, Ministry of Railway spokesperson, the Berlin to Frankfurt high-speed rail is only 29 euros

High-level national leaders these days like to draw comparisons with foreign countries, thus making those dissenting voices in the populace shut up and stop questioning their glorious achievements. Just now, I saw another big shot. This is the rubbish he’s spouting:

Wang Yongping, spokesman for the Ministry of Railways said during a news interview on the 26th said that the Wuhan – Guangzhou high-speed rail was full to capacity, and that at present it was very difficult to get tickets.





Wang Yongping was aboard the G1002 high-speed train from Guangzhou to Beijing when he said this. In response to on-site reporters’ questions about the price of tickets, Wang Yongping said that the price of tickets on the Wuhan – Guangzhou high-speed rail could not be compared to any other within China. As he understood it, the Berlin – Frankfurt high speed train traveled at three hundred kilometers per hour, the distance traveled was only half that of the Wuhan – Guangzhou railway, but the price of a ticket was thousands of yuan. At the present time, tickets on the Wuhan – Guangzhou railway’s are priced at a preliminary operating price, and might be changed.

Really? Let’s not get into that yet.

Firstly, the people’s eyes are bright, that they leave messages when they have issues is right, that they are asking questions is correct. That is, how can you draw comparisons only with Germany, and convert prices in euros to RMB to draw comparisons, why didn’t he mention Germany’s per capita income? If you want to use consumption as a basis for comparison, that is to say that if the price of tickets on the Berlin – Frankfurt line are 1000 yuan, then Germany’s average income is 15,000 yuan. With an income of 15,000 per month, is a 1000 yuan train ticket expensive? But in our country the average income is only 1500 yuan per month. So what kind of logic is this, this comparison of the price of tickets and not income? It is drunk logic! It is kindergarten logic! It is con-man logic!

Germany’s average income is around 1500 euro per month, and with regard to consumers, is cheaper than China. You could say that as long as you didn’t enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, you could get away with spending 1000 euro a month (usually 600 – 800 is enough, you’d still be able to drink beer and coke every day on 600), and this 1000 euro would include everything you’d need to eat, live, wear, transport costs (gasoline etc.), 1200 euro would allow you to live more comfortably. Naturally this would be for city living.

Can I ask if a person living in a city in China could live well by spending 1200 yuan a month?

Let’s get back to the price of tickets on the Berlin – Frankfurt line.

The Ministry of Railways spokesman said that tickets on the Berlin – Frankfurt high speed train were more than 1000 yuan RMB, and you could say that he was right. But this is the price for idiots. This price is mainly for those tourists who come to Germany. This is a price that is just for show. In reality the prices for German train tickets are extremely flexible, and trains are very convenient. In Germany when people go on long journeys, other than private cars they travel by train. Inter-city travel by car is almost non existent.

How much do Berlin – Frankfurt tickets really cost?

In all of Germany, and not the Berlin – Frankfurt line, that is to say from the north all the way to the south, as long as you reserve tickets three days in advance, second class tickets are just 29 euro (and German tickets can be booked a year in advance, so I could book a ticket for December 2010 right now). You naturally need to book in advance. If you buy a tickets less than three days before you need to pay full price. Think about it how Germany’s administrators consider the needs of its citizens. Below are the prices for train tickets on the Berlin – Frankfurt line, which I just looked up.

The above prices are for the high-speed train from Berlin to Frankfurt, all are full price, the cheapest is 97 euro, and the reason: no prior booking has been made.

The above are the prices of tickets from Berlin to Frankfurt on January 8, all are at the discounted price of 29 euro (113 euro, at the right, is the full price).

The price of a first class seat from Berlin to Frankfurt: full price 148 – 243 euro, there are two discounted prices, 49 euro and 53 euro. Anyway, there aren’t many first class carriages in trains.

From the price of trains, we can see how Germany’s railways make money, who they make money from, and how they embody people’s livelihood.

Actually, German Railways is a share based company in which the government holds the majority of shares . But in our country, the trains are a state enterprise, it’s the people’s own company! It’s taking the people’s money!

The speed of the train from Berlin – Frankfurt is usually under 200 kilometers per hour, I don’t know if the 300km/h high speed train the Ministry of Railways leader mention was because he has ridden one, or he heard of one, or if he just made something up to explain away the problem/question. What needs to be explained is that in Germany, the ICE are the best and fastest trains. If something is a high speed train that goes along a fixed track, it is called an ICE, or an InterCity Express.

But half of the route from Frankfurt to Paris’ Gare de l’Est is taken at speeds of over 350 km/h, with the fastest speed reached being 390 km/h. The distance is in the thousands of kilometers, and the discounted price for train tickets: a second class ticket will cost 39 euros, a first class seat is 73 euros, with the full price being three times the discounted price. Below is the price of second class tickets for the Frankfurt – Gare de l’Est station in Paris for January 8.

This is the real German rail price, and if high-level leaders insist on using Germany high-speed rail ticket prices to determine Wuhan – Guangzhou high-speed rail ticket prices, thus embodying our country’s leading cadres wholehearted purpose of serving the people, then use the income amount of 1500 as a premise and lower the second-class seat prices for the Wuhan – Guangzhou high-speed rail down to 39 yuan (RMB) and under!

Comments from Mop:

乖乖的小星:

After reading this I am really really worried, what I am worried about is the LZ‘s safety.

AHALYB2000:

Those who are not idiots, cannot become leaders.

Do you guys understand the meaning of this saying?

行健世坤:

Lou zhu…

you know too much~~~~~~~~~

一个人@精彩:

The experts always have selective blindness.

贱13滚开:

LZ WATCH OUT, YOU NEED TO TEACH SOMEONE CLOSE TO YOU HOW TO USE MOP [the website], JUST IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOU, YOU’LL HAVE SOMEONE TO HELP YOU.

對王之王…對穿肠:

Nonsense, how could the Celestial Kingdom ever learn from the areas foreign countries are cheaper?

That which is high-priced, we must bring ourselves in line with international standards, but those that are low-priced, we pretend we don’t see!

无聊侃侃:

The spokesperson didn’t think that anyone would actually go and check a foreign website, it seems that putting up a harmonious LAN is very important. I’m sure that in a few days these websites will be accused of capitalist dumping of goods and these websites will be blocked.

★吹大了气球玩球球★:

LZ, please tell your good friends, and write your last will and testament!

cfl12cfl12:

Lou zhu can rest at ease, when one lou zhu falls, millions of lou zhu‘s will take his place~~

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Then all of them will fall~~~~~~

跑跑跳跳玩玩闹:

LZ be careful!

我是医生……:

There’s nothing we can do, our economy can’t be compared with those developed American and European countries.

Don’t just dismiss your country like that, being Chinese, we have to love our homeland.

If we don’t, how can we match little Japan, bang zi, and the like?

rudy7812:

I’m in Frankfurt. Last month I took part in a party organised by a student group for ERASMUS. A return ticket to Berlin and two nights, and all I spent was 90 euro.

William Shakespeare:

LZ, 39 euro to Paris is expensive, I got a return ticket for just 29.9 euro…

@@@@Mars:

I’ve been on the ICE, from Frankfurt to Gare l’Est in Paris.

It was around 50 euro. The speed was completely excessive, it made me, who had just finished riding on the Harmonious Train feel the pressure. After I arrived I noticed that my watch was 5 minutes slow.

JimCurry:

LZ calm down! Society is improving, if our population was the same as Germany’s then our train tickets wouldn’t be so expensive! The Germans can buy tickets online, there’s little chance of that for us! We can never get one! The reason? The reason is because our population is too big! Too many people… too many people…

Cheaper than the Wuhan-Guangdong High Speed Rail. chinaSMACK personals.

