The Orient Express

You've probably read about the "Orient Express".  It was a luxury railroad service that, in its heyday, ran from Paris to Constantinople.  A one-way trip of about 1800 miles took three days but it was three days of luxury and only the rich and famous could afford a ticket.  The Orient Express ran from 1883 until 2007 in one form or another until the 21st century of high speed everything caught up with the slower life of the conventional train.

Now there may be a new Orient Express just down the tracks.  China is big on high speed bullet trains and is considering one that will travel to the United States. The announcement by the Chinese department of transportation said the route would start in northeast China, cross Siberia, follow a 125-mile tunnel under the Bering trait to reach Alaska, then cut across Canada to reach the continental US.  The old Orient Express averaged 25mpr, whereas the new Orient Express will travel ten times faster and make the 8,000 mile trip in two days.  Chinese officials recently said that there have been positive discussions with the Russians.  However, there was no mention of discussions with US officials.

China has a reputation for massive railway projects and completing them in breakneck speed and Russia would jump at the chance to open up nearly half their country to the rest of the world.  China has said they'd pay the entire $200 billion cost of the project.  But can you imagine what would happen in Washington if China and Russia said "they" wanted to build a railroad "here" in the US.  Between the EPA environmental impact surveys and Foggy Bottom politicians who can't agree on anything, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you on a train ticket to Beijing on the Orient Express.