And as crazy as this may seem, its economy would probably be growing at even a faster rate than the current 10%-plus a year pace if its rail infrastructure were truly up to snuff. Though improvements have been made in recent years, its nationwide passenger rail network, with some 2.4 million seats-worth of capacity, is far short of the 3.4 million in daily demand. Smaller cities in the western part of the country have to get by without rail service.

Particularly problematic right now is the shortage of freight trains and lines to carry raw materials from the western provinces to manufacturing centers along China's more prosperous coastal strip, says Huang Min, chief economist with China's Railways Ministry. "Our railroad service can only satisfy 35% of cargo demand," he said.

China's appetite for rail is just the most prominent example of a trend throughout Asia.  In January, Taiwan inaugurated a national high speed network, and other Asian countries are likely to follow suit.  There is talk of a rail network connecting Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok, and eventually high speed rail in India.  Despite India’s current reluctance to such a network, my guess is that high speed rail will become an imperative as the country moves further along its modernization path.

The bright spot for the U.S. was the presence of Fabian Nuñez, Speaker of the California Assembly, to witness the TGV experimental run.  California is considering a high speed rail network extending from Sacramento to San Diego and connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles. As I wrote last week, a high speed connection for this route makes complete sense, and given the vast expanse between Southern and Northern California, the obstacles to constructing a mostly uninterrupted stretch of rail are few.   Planning for the rail link seems to be inching along, but the necessary political constituency appears to be sufficiently ensconced to see the project through to fruition.  This network shares space on the drawing board with a rail project to move freight from the busy Long Beach and Los Angeles ports inland to Los Angeles.  As has been mentioned repeatedly in recent weeks on this site, California is a trendsetter on transportation and environmental issues in part because it has seen the future and realizes that the car-oriented policies of the past have failed.  My hope is that, as with fashion and culture, the rest of country will look to the West Coast and see that trains are the new wave of transportation.