Great Western Coffee Shop

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7397846/Kings-Cross-to-Beijing-in-two-days-on-new-high-speed-rail-network.html

I didn't think it was April 1 today.

"on trains that travel almost as fast as aeroplanes" ... "with trains that capable of running at over 200mph"

Boeing 747-400 cruises at 567mph and has a maximum of 614mph.  Unless they are referring to a small one engine prop plane?!

I somehow don't think the Health & Safety people would allow a train to run at 614mph.

This will take a lot of the fun out of it though. For people like me and, I suspect, many on this forum, London to Beijing on Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow would still be a superior and more culturally rich journey - it's one of the greatest railway journeys in the world.

It's like the new Gotthard Base high speed tunnel they're building underneath the Alps in Switzerland to cut Zurich - Milan train times by an hour. It will still be far more enjoyable going on the current route through the Gotthard Pass. It's an adventure going on to other countries by train - I've no doubt most people will choose the quicker, higher speed, route but I'll stick to the slower, more interesting, routes any day.