High speed rail: Japanese bid to bring us into the game

By Jacob Saulwick
Updated October 26 2014 - 12:08pm, first published October 25 2014 - 2:57pm
Living the dream: Japan has had high speed rail longer than Australia has been talking about it.
Living the dream: Japan has had high speed rail longer than Australia has been talking about it.
Living the dream: Japan has had high speed rail longer than Australia has been talking about it.
Living the dream: Japan has had high speed rail longer than Australia has been talking about it.
Living the dream: Japan has had high speed rail longer than Australia has been talking about it.
Living the dream: Japan has had high speed rail longer than Australia has been talking about it.
Living the dream: Japan has had high speed rail longer than Australia has been talking about it.
Living the dream: Japan has had high speed rail longer than Australia has been talking about it.

In Tokyo this week for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the first of Japan's remarkable high-speed rail lines, the Shinkansen, former deputy prime minister and noted train buff Tim Fischer drew a laugh with a spot of Australian self-deprecation.