China High Speed Trains

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The high speed train is one of the most popular modes of transport in China. High speed of movement helps to significantly save travel time between cities. The pricing policy for high-speed trains in China is significantly lower than in other countries. If in 2008 high-speed lines in China accounted for only 6% of trips, in 2013 - 79%.

Today, high-speed railways have covered all of China. The high-speed network in the PRC is the largest in the world and occupies 66.7% of the world high-speed rail network. It covers all major cities, as well as the stations of small towns along the route of trains. High-speed railways compete with road and air transport, especially at average distances of 300–800 km.

In the PRC, the development of high-speed rail services is developing at a rapid pace, despite the lack of recoupment. High-speed communication helps to connect all regions of the huge country with each other in a small temporary availability. The construction of high-speed railways helps to solve social problems and problems of labor migration in China.

This type of transport is relevant for travelers who want to visit several major cities at once and save time. For example, from Shanghai to Beijing by high-speed train can be reached in just 5 hours at an average speed of 330 km / h.

There is a lot of talk about the safety of expressways in China. “It takes a long time to build such railways abroad and cannot be used immediately. After laying, they must settle, reach a stable state, and only then can they be operated. And in these two years we have been carrying out a real "Great Leap Forward" in the field of high-speed trains. Everything is done in a hurry, the deadlines for work are reduced, the work is carried out mainly by migrant workers from villages, and here you need to have a fairly high qualification ", - Feng Peien said earlier.

High speed communication

Most often, high-speed railways are used to travel 200-500 km within 2-4 hours of availability. The speed of modern trains exceeds 350 km / h, and in some sections it can reach 486 km / h, as, for example, on the Beijing-Shanghai highway.

High-speed lines are divided according to train speed into:

1st category - 200, 0-250, 0 km / h;

Category 2 - 250, 0-350, 0 km / h;

Category 3 - more than 350.0 km / h.

There is usually no freight traffic on high-speed lines. There are isolated cases of transportation of light cargo, for example, mail and parcels.

The fastest in the world on rails in 2007 was the train of the French National Railroad. On the demonstration run from Paris to Strasbourg, the train accelerated to 575 km / h. On this line, only daytime passenger trains are carried out.

China on May 3 announced the development of a train that will be able to pick up a cruising speed of 400 km / h. Trains will run at this speed on most routes, accelerating up to 470 km / h in some sections. The first such trains will be presented to the public in 2020, according to the China Railway Corporation.

Currently, the cruising speed of trains is mainly limited to 350 km / h. The Chinese will achieve an increase in speed, including with the help of lighter materials.

How did high-speed rail traffic develop in the world?

The history of high-speed rail began in the 1970s in Japan, which remained the leader in high-speed lines until the 21st century. The Japanese found that with the installation of a special track and more powerful engines, the train can reach speeds of up to 270 km / h. So on the Tokyo-Osaka line, the travel time was reduced from 6 hours 40 minutes to 2 hours 25 minutes. The railway service, which has already lost its former popularity in the world, has become competitive again.

By the end of the 20th century, the experience of Japan was adopted by 5 more countries: Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Belgium. By the beginning of the XXI century, the speed of trains had already increased to 380 km / h.

At the beginning of the century, the construction of high-speed networks began in China. Despite the fact that China began to build high-speed rail lines later than other countries, in just 10 years the country was able to become a world leader. The peak of the development of high-speed lines in the PRC fell on the period 2010-2012, when the government allocated about $ 355 billion for the development of railways.

If in 2008 almost all high-speed trains were purchased in Japan, Germany and France, then by 2011 China had already established its own production based on these samples. Now Chinese factories every year produce hundreds of their trains, some of which are exported.

According to the plans of the PRC, by 2020 the length of high-speed railway lines in China will reach 30 thousand kilometers, covering all cities with a population of 500 thousand people.

The creators of the idea of high-speed construction, the Japanese, gave way to China in the world ranking. By the end of 2016, Japan's share in the global high-speed rail network had dropped from 47% (in 2000) to 8%. Until 2010, France was in the lead in Europe, and then Spain was overtaken, which came close to the 3rd place in the world after China and Japan.

China plans to sponsor high-speed roads in Russia

The Russian strategy for the development of high-speed railway communication includes the Moscow-Kazan route, which in the future may extend to Yekaterinburg, and then through Kazakhstan to Beijing, becoming the new Silk Road. The Moscow-Beijing project is designed to be implemented for a period of 8-10 years. From one capital to another, a high-speed train will be able to cover 7 thousand km in 2 days. On Russian territory, this road will connect the central region, the Volga region and the Urals.

The construction of high-speed lines and all related infrastructure requires huge financial investments. The PRC can provide Russia with loans for construction if Chinese technologies are used. China intends to invest over 400 billion rubles in the project.

The construction of the strategic line "Moscow - Kazan", with a length of 770 km, according to preliminary estimates, will cost 1.068 trillion rubles. At a maximum speed of up to 400 km / h, the travel time should be no more than 3.5 hours. Now this journey by train takes 11.5 hours.

The project is described in the program for the development of high-speed railway communication in Russia until 2020. Construction is expected to begin in 2017, and the first high-speed train is to pass along the highway in 2020. Operation of the highway is scheduled for 2021. This will be the first specialized railway in Russia for the movement of trains with a speed of 200 to 400 km / h.

China announced the development of a high-speed train for the Moscow-Kazan route, which is scheduled to be tested in 2018. The train will be designed to operate in freezing temperatures down to -50 degrees Celsius. During testing, the function of all elements of the composition at a low temperature will be checked. The train will have 12 carriages for 720 passengers. It will move at a speed of 360 km / h.

Experts note that the impact of this project on the country's economy will be enormous. The mobility of the population will increase, the connection between regions will be strengthened, the existing railway lines will be relieved and the speed of freight trains will increase. Fast and comfortable movement of people will lead to an increase in the quality of life of the population and the development of domestic tourism.

Currently, high-speed trains in Russia operate on three routes: Moscow - St. Petersburg, Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg - Helsinki, with a total length of 1,500 km. High-speed trains on Russian roads can reach top speeds of up to 250 km / h.