Southwest Chinese County Wants Roads not Trains
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Uploaded by NTDTV on Nov 23, 2009
Deep in the countryside of southwest China, the world's last narrow-gauge passenger steam train is still going strong.
The coal-fuelled train, which shoots out steam as it rumbles through Qianwei County, Sichuan Province, is the only source of transportation for local villagers.
The relic has not been updated since 1959, when it was rolled out to transport coal from a local mine.
A half-century later, with much of China having high-speed rail links, Qianwei's dusty steam train looks more like it belongs to Britain's industrial revolution of past centuries.
Trundling along at 20 kilometers an hour in its still daily service, the train has just four seats per carriage and is not popular with all locals, says passenger Liu Hua.
[Liu Hua, Passenger]:
"I don't like the train. It is very slow. There is only one train every three hours. There is a lot of dust. Our clothes are always covered with dust after the ride. I don't like it. It would save us so much time if there was a bus." The 55-km route serves thousands of passengers from nine farming villages - none of which have roads - in the remote and mountainous area.
The train is well-known, bringing much-needed tourism to the impoverished area. Still, villagers like Wang Jun would rather it was in a museum.
[Wang Jun, Villager]:
"I hope they can remove the train and build a road. It would be convenient for cars and motorcycles. It is for the best to just remove it. It is not convenient at all to take the train. It is very crowded, and you have to wait for it. If you miss it, you miss it."
If some villagers get their way, the locomotive may chug its last in the near future, although there is certain to be a wave of nostalgia for the inimitable little train and its familiar whistle.
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The world's last narrow-gauge passenger steam train? Bull shit, what about all the lines in Europe?!
baudolino9 1 year ago
NO NO NO LEAVE IT LIKE IT IS, That is a national treasure.
gasttheplast 2 years ago
Different!
mynextstopkraljevo 2 years ago
too bad they couldn't just build another train to make trips more frequent. A road sounds good but might bring more problems then they anticipate.
DefconO1 2 years ago