on February 14 | in Business, Business, Business, Business, Business, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Expat Life, Expat Life, Expat Life, Expat Life, Expat Life, Expat Life, Expat Life, Expat Life, Expat Life, Transportation, Transportation, Transportation, Transportation, Transportation, Transportation, Transportation | by Maxxelli | with No Comments

The Chinese railway system is one of the most extensive railway networks in the world and with over 121,000 km of tracks; it is the second largest after the US. It is also impressive in that it is the second largest rail network in the world in terms of passengers and freight, with the forecast of passengers in 2017 set to peak 3.03 billion. It has, until recently, been entirely owned and operated by the state-owned China Railway Corporation (CRC). As of late however, in an effort to reduce china railway’s 4 trillion Yuan debt, the network is being partially privatized. It is still, however, by far the most used transportation system in china and undergoes many expansions and upgrades, and it is definitely worth a more detailed look.

The Current Network

It should firstly be noted that there are two types of rail networks in china; the conventional rail routes, which consist of over 100,000 km of rail, and the ever-improving high-speed lines. These high-speed trains were first introduced in 2007 and, having proven incredibly successful, now have a length of 19,000km, almost double the 10,000km as of three years ago. It should also be noted that China now has the largest high-speed rail network in the world, also consisting of the world’s longest line from Beijing to Guangzhou at 2,298km. Part of the reason why these trains have proven so popular is that they can travel at a maximum speed of 350km/h, rivaling planes for speed over short and medium distances. The size of the rail network is increasing rapidly and the government target is to exceed 270,000 km of total rail network by 2050. In addition, high-speed rail is expected to consist of 50,000 km of track by 2020.

 

Expansion

Even though China Railway Corporation is in debt, the continued rapid expansion of the high-speed rail system is one of the government’s top priorities. A symbol of this development is that china is planning to build the world’s longest undersea rail tunnel under the Bohai Straight linking the Liaoning and Shandong provinces and reducing journey time from 8 hours by ferry to 40 minutes by train. This tunnel would be more than double the length of the channel tunnel at 123km, costing 200 billion Yuan. The government is trying to use this rapid improvement in infrastructure to stimulate economic growth amidst a general slowdown. It is also placing a special emphasis on investing in rail lines in more remote areas and away from the coast, where it would not normally be economically feasible, in the hope of further stimulating growth in second and third tier cities. For example, some of the latest rail expansions run in the southern province of Guangdong, the southwestern provinces of Guangxi and Sichuan, Inner Mongolia and the western province of Gansu.

The New Silk Road

A new high-speed line from Urumqi to Hami has recently been in use. This is part of a longer railway yet to be opened, connecting Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, to Lanzhou, Gansu Province. Xi Jinping even has the ambition to expand the high-speed grid abroad and is interested in funding and building high-speed lines from west China through Central Asia to even Europe as well as from south west China through South East Asia to Singapore. This plan is also known as “the New Silk Road”, mentioned during the APEC last month. Although it might still seem far ahead, currently China is pushing forward with plans to expand its already expansive railway network in Tibet by building new lines that will link Lhasa to strategically significant points along the disputed border with India, close to Arunachal Pradesh.

Travel times

With all the construction work as of late, China’s high-speed railway system is not only expanding to new places, but due to more direct lines opening, the time it takes to travel is decreasing rapidly. This can be seen as, at present, almost all major Chinese cities are connected to the same network. However, there are still a number of high-speed lines yet to be linked to the main network, for example the Chengdu-Chongqing high-speed line is due to be linked to the main network by the end of 2017. China is currently on track to have all of the larger cities and provincial capitals (excluding Lhasa) connected by the same high-speed network by 2020, vastly decreasing travel times as shown in the below map.

Travelling

Before 2009, the railway system was severely lacking in comparison to China’s air and road transportation. Whilst many foreigners might still have negative presumptions about China’s rail network, rail transport in china is a very pleasant affair and is often much more modern, luxurious in comparison to both many other rail networks and air transport options. Whilst of course first and business class seats are best, all seats on high-speed trains are very pleasant. However, the best part about high-speed trains is not their quality but rather their simple convenience, they are very regular, can take you almost anywhere you want and, where airlines and airports are plagued with hassle and delays, are hassle-free and often take you directly into city centers, often in significantly less time than a plane would. Add into this the fact that you need very little money (and obviously a passport for foreigners) and high-speed rail becomes an ideal way of moving around China.

One issue though is that the rail network is not entirely friendly towards those who do not speak mandarin; as such we provide a picture of a train ticket including an explanation:

Our belief is that, provided China maintains its expected momentum with its rail network expansion, it will continue to become an increasingly ideal mode of travelling around china.

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