News Archive
High-speed rail to shrink fourth biggest country
Released on 02/09/2008
China has launched a massive expansion of its railway network with the construction of thousands of kilometres of high-speed links and hundreds of new stations.
The first inter-city high-speed link, between Tianjin and Beijing, opened August 1st, and more than 1.8 million passengers have ridden the 350-km/h electric trains. The 120km journey used to take 70 minutes but now takes only 30.
And that’s just the beginning. MOR chief engineer He Huawu told China Daily that three lines totaling 1900km were expected to be finished within three years and another 13 lines of 9400 km would be built by 2020.
The plans would bring the cities of China, which is the fourth largest country in the world, much closer together. The grueling 12-hour journey from Beijing to Shanghai would be cut to four hours and the 24-hour trek from the capital to Guangzhou in the south would be cut to nine.
The high-speed railway network would connect all provincial capitals and major cities.
Officials from the Ministry of Railways (MOR) said there were plans to develop six passenger transport hubs – Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Xi'an and Chengdu – and 10 regional hubs, with local railway stations upgraded to deal with the increased numbers of travellers.
It means 548 railway stations will be built by 2010, Zheng Jian, the MOR’s deputy chief engineer, told China Daily. “Twenty-eight new stations have already been completed, 58 are under construction and 210 are in the design stage,” he said.
“Cities like Hangzhou and Nanjing know that being linked to the high-speed rail network will have a hugely positive impact on their economies, and that is why they want to build big stations,” Zheng said.
PHOTOGRAPH: A Hexie CRH3 train pulls into the new Tianjin Station during pilot running on the line from Beijing to Tianjin. (Yang Baosen/Xinhua Photo)
