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When the ice storm descended on China during the Lunar New Year season of 2008, it gave the world a feel of the kind of loading China Railway has to take on.
Beijing was on a stopover between Ulaan Bataar and Singapore. There was no need to leave the Chinese capital, the sights easily took up one week of my time. Anyway, I booked myself into a budget hotel next to the Beijing Station. The window offer a view of the station track. Sound-proofing was well-done though, I didn't lose much sleep. Everyday, on the way in and out of the hotel, I would have to walk by the station. Though it was not the peak travelling season, the station area was a mass of humanity, sometimes late into the night.
People, people everywhere, in the day (top), and the night (bottom.) 
--KIV--
The Auckland Regional Transport Authority runs its train service out of the Britomart transport centre.
I was in Auckland for one night only, the stop being a transit between Samoa and Singapore. It was a nightlong stop. Not wanting to pay for a hotel, and not wanting to sleep on a seat at the airport, I decided to try my luck at the 24hrs casino in downtown Auckland. It did made about NZ$100 with a 'capital' of NZ$10. Not too shabby, I would say. In the morning, I headed for the Britomart and tried out one of the ARTA trains.
The service feels like a city Metro/Underground (correct me if any Kiwi sees this), but some of the train engine looks like they are in for the long haul. It was still early in the morning when I got on the train, and it was dark outside the window. I remember the train I was on was on raised track, and looking down, I could see another line with track running across some bodies of water. In the dim morning lights, as a train runs on the track, it looks like the train was travelling on water. It reminds me of the train in the anime Spirited Away.
The Britomart station is also the starting point of the scenic rail Overlander that runs over the north island between Auckland and Wellington.
--KIV--
The pacific island of Western Samoa (not to be mistaken with American Samoa) has no railway lines. Public transport on this beautiful island is provided by taxis and buses take looks like a hybrid of a bus and lorry.
Western Samoa is famous for supplying her neighboring New Zealand and Australia with professional rugby players, for WWE's The Rock, for giving the world Tatoo, and for being the final resting place of Robert Louis Stevensons.
--KIV--
The guy who works with me in Bangladesh, a telecom engineer, is proud of his country on two accounts: 1, that it is the most densely populated country in the world; and 2, that he could throw his rubbish any which way he likes on the street. He actually demonstrated the second point on the street of Dakka with a PET bottle which content he just emptied into his stomach. "You can't do that in Singapore, can you." Not a pretty beginning to a beautiful relationship.....It probably has something to do with my decision not to take any train ride on this country.
The trip to Dakka was a short one. Arriving on a Wednesday, work through Thurday and Friday, then sign up for a city tour with the hotel travel desk. The 100+ bucks paid for the trip comes with a private car (Toyota, if you must know), a driver and a English-speaking guide. After all the spots on the itinery were covered, I asked to be taken to the city train station. So here are some pictures of the station and the platform.
At the station, I asked that the guide buy me a train ticket. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"If you are not going anywhere, why buy a ticket?", he asked, after a I told him I am going nowhere, that I would like a ticket to the nearest train station. He did go up to the ticket counter when I explained that I would like a ticket for keepsake,. However, he came back, looking defeated, explaining that the ticket seller has refuse to sell him the ticket if no one intends to make the trip. He promised to try again. Settling me down at a snack and drinks stall nearby, he trooped back to the ticket counter, "I will find a way", he promised. This time he was successful. Whatever trick he pulled remain a mystery to this day, but it worked.
--KIV--
The island of Sri Lanka is sometimes known as the Tear Drop Isle for its shape and the way it hangs off the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent. The Tear Drop Isle would have been weeping on Boxing Day 2005, and it would still be in mourning in Febuary, 2006. The Indian Ocean tsunami has swept along the coast of Sri Lanka and had caused much death and damage. Sri Lanka probably has one of the most beautiful train ride, with a long stretch of the western line hugging the coastline, the sea barely a few meters next to the train. On weekends, walk to the tracks near the Columbo beach. You will find couples on the stoney banks, the rail tracks behind them, the Indian Ocean right before.
On Boxing Day 2005, as the south-bound engine 59 was travelling towards Galle, the tsunami strucked, sweeping it off its track and taking the lives of all but a dozen of her 1700 passengers.
After the Monument, I took a short walk to the train station. Here's what looks like a commuter train pulling out of the platform. The train looks like it was shipped in from Japan. The Kanji (Japanese) writings for "Weak Air-conditioned Cabin" is still visible on the train. That would mean the cabin doesn't have the air-conditioner turned on to full blast.....at least back in Japan where it came from.
