While on the topic of Asian railways . . .

This link was sent to one of the mailing lists I monitor:

How about some human-power?

http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/noz/jinsha/ejs-idx.html

Click on the first photo, "Wudu station of TRA", then click the "Next Page" link at the bottom of each photo. Be sure to read the captions . . .

Taiwan, in 1976, still had a human-powered railway. 1946 I might have believed, but 1976?

Hat tip to "<><><> TOM <><><>"

Update: Christian sent another URL to the list with this little gem:

Travellers in Cambodia have to deal with one of the world's worst train networks.

There is only one passenger service a week, and it often travels at not much more than walking pace.

So people in the north west of the country, near Cambodia's second city of Battambang, have taken matters into their own hands.

They have created their own rail service using little more than pieces of bamboo. The locals call the vehicles "noris", or "lorries", but overseas visitors know them as "bamboo trains".

A tiny electric generator engine provides the power, and the passenger accommodation is a bamboo platform that rests on top of two sets of wheels. A dried-grass mat to sit on counts as a luxury.

While definitely a step-up from human-power, it's still not quite Eurostar.