In recent years, the pace of construction of high-speed railroads in the Celestial Empire has already surprised few people, but still amazed by the scale. Thus, in September in China completed the construction of the last section of one of the longest high-speed railway routes in the world. Now the distance of 2 360 km from Beijing to Hong Kong can be overcome in 8 hours 56 minutes.
In total, last year China invested in the development of railroads 802.8 billion yuan or 117 billion dollars, increasing their length by 4 600 km. At the same time, by the end of 2018, the high-speed rail network in the country has reached 29,000 km.
This fact will be even more surprising if we consider that a decade ago, the Chinese high-speed rail network consisted of two lines: the Aeroexpress from Shanghai to the airport (Maglev) and the 100-kilometer section of Beijing-Tianjin. By 2025, the total length of the high-speed lines should reach 38,000 km. The Chinese network is not just the largest in the world - it is larger than all the others combined. For comparison: the French network, the second largest in the world, has 3 220 km; Japanese - 2 700 km.
20 years ago, China could not boast of developed passenger rail transportation. In 1993, the average speed of trains in the country was less than 50 km / h. Along with economic growth and increased demand for passenger transportation. In 1997, the government began a program to increase the average speed of trains. It included the modernization of existing tracks and technology transfer. By 2006, it became clear that the existing tracks would not be able to provide the necessary capacity and speed for the growing passenger traffic. The government redirected most of the funds from modernization of existing tracks to planning and construction of dedicated high-speed lines.
Initially, the development was stalled due to uncertainty about what the new network would represent. The discussion centered on two development models: the use of traditional high-speed lines and the use of magnetic cushion trains technology. With the second, China has already had a positive experience: the line from Shanghai to the airport is still the fastest in the world, reaching a speed of 431 km / h. However, the cost of building with this technology was too high, which limited the network development, so the choice was made in favor of the first option.
One of the factors contributing to the active construction of the network is the lower cost compared to other countries. Construction of one kilometer of road does not exceed $23 million, while in Europe the price tag starts from $25 million and can reach up to $40 million. Construction of high-speed railroads in China is put on industrial rails, which allows to save significantly on procurement and construction.
In western countries, a significant part of the project costs falls on land acquisition. In China, 85% of the tracks are laid on viaducts, which allows to significantly reduce the cost of landscape works. Moreover, the cost of land and labor is also cheaper than in other countries with developed systems of high-speed rail transport.
With the increasing demand for long-distance transportation, it became clear that air transport is not able to provide sufficient capacity within the country.
High-speed railroads play another significant role: they improve the mobility of the population. Today, a Chinese resident can take a train ticket to Shenzhen for 7 dollars and in 30 minutes be in Guangzhou, 120 km from the place of departure. This allows millions of Chinese every day to travel a hundred kilometers to get to work, while spending less time than sometimes necessary to move around the big city.
Last year the length of the railway network increased by 4.6 thousand kilometers, and investments in infrastructure development amounted to 117 billion dollars.
The Chinese government intends to invest heavily in railway infrastructure on a long-term basis. In 2019, plans to put into operation another 3.2 thousand kilometers of new high-speed lines - mainly in western and central regions. The total length of the network is expected to increase by 6.8 thousand kilometers.
China Railways plans to carry 3.54 billion passengers and 3.37 billion tons of cargo in 2019.
So why did China have such a success? First of all, the secret of success in the painstaking work of the Chinese. Secondly, it also affected the ability of the Chinese to attract to their country the best experience, learn and work to create their own products. At present, all the leading railway brands are represented in China. In fact, the Chinese make analogues of these brands, which are not inferior in quality, but much more profitable in price.
China has expanded its domestic railway networks in the shortest possible time, mastered the technology of high-speed traffic and has become a world leader by these indicators. The Celestial Empire is already an exporter of high-speed technologies and draws different schemes of "silk roads" on the map of Eurasia.
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