HAVE A LOOK AT CHINA HIGH SPEED TRAINS

At the beginning of the 21st century China had no high-speed railways.Slow and often uncomfortable trains plodded across this vast country, with low average speeds making journeys such as Shanghai-Beijing a test of travel endurance.

Today, it’s a completely different picture. The world’s most populous nation has — by some distance — the world’s largest network of high-speed railways.No fewer than 37,900 kilometers (about 23,500 miles) of lines crisscross the country, linking all of its major mega-city clusters, and all have been completed since 2008.

Half of that total has been completed in the last five years alone, with a further 3,700 kilometers due to open in the coming months of 2021.The network is expected to double in length again, to 70,000 kilometers, by 2035.

With maximum speeds of 350 kph (217 mph) on many lines, intercity travel has been transformed and the dominance of airlines has been broken on the busiest routes.By 2020, 75% of Chinese cities with a population of 500,000 or more had a high-speed rail ink.Spain, which has Europe’s most extensive high-speed network and occupies second place in the global league table, is a minnow in comparison with just over 2,000 miles of dedicated lines built for operation at over 250 kph.In contrast, the UK currently has just 107 kilometers while the United States has only one rail route that (just about) qualifies for high-speed status — Amtrak’s North East Corridor, where Acela trains currently top out at 240 kph on expensively rebuilt sections of existing line shared with commuter and freight trains.

A symbol of economic power

China’s ambition is to make high-speed rail the mode of choice for domestic long-distance travel, but these new railways have a much greater significance.Much like Japan’s Shinkansen in the 1960s, they are a symbol of the country’s economic power, rapid modernization, growing technological prowess and increasing prosperity.For China’s ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping, high-speed rail is also a powerful tool for social cohesion, political influence and the integration of disparate regions with distinct cultures into the mainstream.

“The building of these new railways forms part of Xi Jinping’s grand plan of ‘integrating the vast national market,'” says Dr. Olivia Cheung, research fellow at the China Institute of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). “It is also meant to be reflective of his ‘new development philosophy,’ of which ‘coordinated development’ is a key concept.

“His scheme is grand in that it extends beyond just simply connecting existing towns, but existing towns with new mega-towns that are being constructed from scratch. A famous example in which Xi takes a lot of pride is the Xiong’an New Area in Hebei province, around 60 miles southwest of Beijing.”

In that sense, it could be argued that China is repeating railway history; many early railways in North America, Europe and the colonies of the European empires were built with similar goals.

The development of railway networks in Russia — most notably the Trans-Siberian Railway — Prussia, France, Italy and the British Empire, among others, were strongly influenced by political and military demands as well as economic development.
However, what took decades in the 19th and early 20th centuries is being achieved in just a few years by China.

With 37,900 kilometers of lines, China has the world’s largest network of high-speed railways.

“The Chinese have created an entire high-speed rail network on an unprecedented scale — often faster and certainly more reliable than Chinese domestic flights,” says rail travel expert Mark Smith, better known as “The Man in Seat 61.”

“It’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer size of some of the new stations, and by the efficiency with which the system moves vast numbers of people, all with a reserved seat and increasingly without the need for paper tickets, just a scan of an ID card or passport at the ticket gates.”

China initially relied on high-speed technology imported from Europe and Japan to establish its network. Global rail engineering giants such as Bombardier, Alstom and Mitsubishi were understandably keen to co-operate, given the potential size of the new market and China’s ambitious plans.However, over the last decade, it is domestic companies that have developed into world leaders in high-speed train technology and engineering, thanks to the astonishing expansion of their home network.

Overcoming high-speed growing pains

The sheer size of China and its tremendous variations in terrain, geology and climate have presented the country’s railway engineers with incredible challenges.From sometimes frozen Harbin in the far north to the near-tropical humidity of the Pearl River Delta megalopolis, to the 1,776-km Lanzhou-Urumqi line traversing the Gobi Desert, China’s engineers have quickly developed extensive expertise in driving railways over, under and through whatever terrain lies in their path.That rapid growth has not been without its problems though; while centralized state funding, planning and approval allows China to avoid the endless legal wrangles that have bedeviled projects in Europe and the United States for decades, the flip side is that new lines pay little heed to existing communities along their route.

China’s high-speed growing pains also contributed to the tragic Wenzhou collision in July 2011, when two trains collided on a viaduct and derailed, sending four coaches to the floor below, killing 40 passengers and injuring almost 200 others.

A high-tech demonstration in efficiency

Not satisfied with pushing the boundaries of speed, endurance and civil engineering, Chinese companies are among the first in the world to introduce new technology such as autonomous (driverless) train operation and advanced signaling and control technology.

The driverless “bullet trains” connecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou in northern Hebei province are capable of hitting speeds up to 350 kph, making them the world’s fastest autonomous trains.The new route, opened in December 2019 as part of preparations for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, has reduced travel time for the 174-kilometer journey from three hours to less than 60 minutes. The fastest trains complete the trip in just 45 minutes.

No cold platforms here. A passenger waits to board their train at a high-speed railway station in Shanghai.Lintao Zhang/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images

Built in just four years, the line has 10 stations serving two of the major Winter Games venues, plus another at Badaling Changcheng providing faster access for tourists to the Great Wall of China. The latter is the world’s deepest high-speed railway station, situated 102 meters (335 feet) underground.

Passenger saloons on the autonomous trains have expanded storage areas for winter sports equipment, seats with 5G touchscreen control panels, intelligent lighting, thousands of safety sensors and removable seats for passengers in wheelchairs. Facial-recognition technology and robots are used in stations to assist travelers with navigation, luggage and check-in.Enormous new stations serving the major cities on the high-speed network are more reminiscent of airport terminals, with acres of spotless polished marble and glass, enormous information screens and lounges where passengers are held until their train is called. No loitering on cold and windy platforms here!

By CNN