China HSR News And Information: Original Translation

[AndrewJin]

New CRH Sleeper, have a look!
It seems that it can be used as a regular second class compartment during the day, so it can be taken full use 24 hour per day.

 

[TianyaTaiwan]

Good news.

 

[ahojunk]

The following article gave a "roundup" of HSR in China. However, it missed a few, such as the HSR in Laos and Thailand. My take - China plans to make Kunming the "HSR capital" for South East Asia and South Asia. Brilliant!

--------------------
China high speed rail roundup

This is a China high sped rail roundup. This has significant geopolitical and economic impacts.

* Russia and China are moving ahead with the Moscow Kazan high speed rail line which will be followed by a Beijing Moscow line
* China completed more internal high speed rail
* China's merged high speed rail companies are second to General electric in terms of industrial company size
* China is furthering deals with India and Indonesia on high speed rail

1. A unit of Russia’s state-owned JSC Russian Railways signed a contract Thursday with the design unit of China’s state-controlled China Railway Group to come up with the plans for a 770 kilometer high-speed rail between the two Russian cities. The Chinese firm will work alongside two Russian companies for on the designs for a total cost of 20.8 billion rubles ($383 million) over the next two years, according to Russian Railways.

Once the designs are developed, a separate tender will be held for the actual construction of the rail link, which Russian Railways expects to cost 1.06 trillion rubles ($19.5 billion). It is “likely” China’s rail developers will land that massive contract as well, but it isn’t guaranteed.

The Chinese side has already expressed interest in investing 300 billion rubles in the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail project—part of which would fund the design, and the rest of which would function as a loan for the construction. “We are in negotiations to raise (the figure) substantially,” Mr. Yakunin said. Russian Railways intends to finish the project by 2020, reducing the duration of the journey to 3½ hours from its current 12½.

The financing, however, is not yet fully nailed down. To fund the 1.06 trillion billion ruble project, Russian Railways expects 380 billion rubles of direct state funding and a further 150 billion rubles from Russia’s National Wealth Fund

2. A new high speed rail line connecting southwest China's Guizhou Province with the economically better-off eastern regions opened this week

The six-station line connects Xinhuang, a county bordering Guizhou in Hunan Province, and Guiyang, provincial capital of Guizhou. The track is 286 kilometers and forms part of the high-speed rail connecting Shanghai and southwest China's Kunming City, according to Chengdu Railway Bureau which administers the section.

With a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, the high speed rail will shorten the train journey between Guiyang and Changsha, provincial capital of Hunan, from 12 to three hours. It will take nine hours for people to travel from Guiyang to Beijing or Shanghai, compared 30 hours of travel using regular trains.

The new rail is expected to promote economic exchange between the eastern, central and western China, and bring business opportunities to Guizhou, an economically disadvantaged province with rich tourism and ethnic culture.

3. China is forging the country’s answer to General Electric, combining two state-owned railroad equipment makers to create the world’s second-largest industrial company. And the giant isn’t planning to stay at home.

The merger of CSR Corp. and China CNR Corp. is now complete, producing a nearly $130-billion behemoth called CRRC Corp. with economies of scale that will allow China to compete even more aggressively for overseas rail deals

4. As part of its “Southern Silk Route” China plans to establish a high speed railway link between Kunming and Kolkata through Dhaka and Chittagong, according to reports reaching Dhaka from Kunming, the capital city of China's southern Yunnan province.

The proposal, which found a mention at recently held Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) meeting in Kunming, plans to boost the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) multi-modal transport system.

“The high speed corridor would give a boost to the economies of all the countries of the region,” said Li Ji Ming, vice-secretary of Yunnan provincial government. The project looks forward to the newly established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and other donors for financing it.

The 2,800km rail route could be a critical component for the BCIM that seeks cross border movement of goods and people in the four countries.

China has pledged US $40 billion for the Silk Route and $50 billion for the AIIB. The BCIM area has a trade potential of $132 billion.

5. A Chinese-led consortium and an Indonesian company signed a letter of memorandum on railway construction in Indonesia June 15 after a meeting between Sheng Guangzu, general manager of China Railway Corporation, and Rini Soemarno, Indonesia's minister for state-owned enterprises, reports Guangzhou's 21st Century Business Herald.

The project that will create a 160-kilometer link between the capital city of Jakarta and Bandung, the nation's third-largest city, will cost an estimated US$6 billion, according to a Japanese institution that is also taking part in the project.
.

 

[cirr]

New CRH Sleeper, have a look!
It seems that it can be used as a regular second class compartment during the day, so it can be taken full use 24 hour per day.
View attachment 231055 View attachment 231054 View attachment 231056 View attachment 231058 View attachment 231057

Now this is good。I am a regular user of the overnight sleeper D trains between Shanghai and Beijing。It would be great news if overnight sleeper G trains become available on，say，the Beijing-Guangzhou、Shanghai-Guangzhou、Shanghai-Kunming、Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu、Shanghai-Tianjin-Harbin routes。

 

[AndrewJin]

Now this is good。I am a regular user of the overnight sleeper D trains between Shanghai and Beijing。It would be great news if overnight sleeper G trains become available on，say，the Beijing-Guangzhou、Shanghai-Guangzhou、Shanghai-Kunming、Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu、Shanghai-Tianjin-Harbin routes。

I think this is still D class. The new design is to make full use of cars in the daytime. G sleeper is unnecessary, since even D sleeper has to stop for some time to let passengers not arrive at their destination at 4-5am. Anyway, passengers board the train at 8-10pm and arrive at 6-7am, that's a perfect timetable for businessmen, isn't it?

@ahojunk Thanks for the roundup!

 

[cirr]

Bullet trains are cities' jewel in the crown

By Lan Lan (China Daily)

Stations emerging as symbols of civic pride and routes to prosperity, reports Lan Lan.

Towns are just scattered pearls without access to the fastest trains around, but they can become a necklace when there is one.

That is why residents in Jingzhou, Hubei province, think it is essential to have such a line serve their city.

The State Council announced in September that a 2,000-kilometer bullet train project from Shanghai to Chengdu in Sichuan province would be built with a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The exact route quickly became a subject of controversy.

The Yangtze River Business Chamber, based in Jingzhou, organized a petition drive in March at which it gathered tens of thousands of signatures in parks, stations and public squares.

Wang Jinghui, secretary-general of the chamber, told China Daily that the chance to have such a facility will not come twice for his historic city, known as the major setting of the Chinese classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"People of all ages were so enthusiastic about the high-speed rail and they all wanted to contribute. We are so proud of our history and a high-speed rail line could help us regain our ancient glory," said Wang.

The problem for Jingzhou is that an express train that runs 200 km/hour already stops in the city. Jingmen, 80 km to the north, also wants to have a stop on the new line－and it now has no high-speed rail service at all.

Xiong Bing, chairman of Jingmen-based Chang Yuan Science and Technology Ltd, posted a video online, in which he said that "not having a high-speed rail line has hampered the city's development and affected civic pride". That attracted tens of thousands of clicks.

"Jingmen shouldn't be the only prefecture-level city in Hubei province that has no high-speed train or bullet train," he said.

The latest developments look good for Jingmen. Hubei's Party Chief Li Hongzhong said last Wednesday that it has been essentially decided that the railway will run through Jingmen.

"Jingmen will step up planning and research and strive for early implementation of the project with support from both the central and provincial governments," said Li.

"If it can't be built in Jingzhou, it should be built in a place in between the two cities," said Wang, expressing regret at this lost opportunity.

However, Peng Zhimin, an expert with the Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, said that putting a station in the middle of nowhere in the quest for fairness could be a losing proposition. Usually, places like that are not well-developed, which means higher infrastructure investment and a longer payback period for the facility.

As the rail network expands, this tale of two cities has been repeated in many other places. For example, Shangyang and Loudi in Hunan province and Xinye and Dengzhou in Henan province have competed to host high-speed rail facilities.

More similar stories are likely as policymakers ramp up high-speed rail investment. On Monday, the National Development and Reform Commission approved a host of new railway projects with a total investment of 243.58 billion yuan ($39.2 billion).

The government has set a spending target of 800 billion yuan on domestic railway construction this year, about the same as last year. Rail projects, along with highways, in the central and western regions of China, are regarded as a priority.

Guo Xiaopei, director of the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation under the NDRC, said that the government will take public sentiment into account, but the final decision on a rail line should rest on feasibility studies.

High-speed rail lines are technically demanding projects that present many geological and environmental challenges and have strict requirements for safety, Guo said.

But it is also true that local governments have gained a bigger say in such projects as railway financing is opening up to various capital sources including local governments and private investors. With the economy slowing, some cities are experiencing fiscal problems. Such cities do not want to get financially involved in new high-speed lines because of the long payback periods, said Guo.

But for some prefecture-level or county-level cities, a new railway, particularly a high-speed rail line, is still significant, said Guo.

Apart from the convenience it means for passengers and businesses, a new economic center usually forms around a railway station. So a high-speed rail stop can create jobs and alleviate the transportation, housing and education pressures facing many cities.

"A railway can bring prosperity to a city. That's certainly been the experience when it comes to conventional railways," he said.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_20767002.htm

 

[cirr]

Delegation seeks funds for Tibet rail project

The construction of the Sichuan-Tibet railway should be incorporated into the country's next five-year plan, according to the Sichuan delegation at the annual session of the National People's Congress.

The delegation said on Tuesday that the central budget should include a special fund for the railway. The 1,800-kilometer line will connect Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, with Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet autonomous region, and construction will cost 200 billion yuan ($32 billion).

Last year, the central government approved the construction of sections linking Lhasa to Nyingchi in eastern Tibet, and Chengdu to Ya'an in western Sichuan.

The delegation suggested that preparation work for two further sections, from Ya'an to Kangding and from Kangding to Nyingchi, should be accelerated so that construction can begin this year.

It said the central government should provide the same level of construction subsidies for the railway as it gives to projects in Tibet.

After completion, the railway will form a ring with the Qinghai-Tibet line, which began operation in 2006.

Last year, Sichuan invested more than 30 billion yuan in railway construction - only two other regions spent more.

The 13th Five-Year Plan will cover 2016 to 2020. By the time it gets underway, Sichuan will have nearly 7,000 kilometers of railway.

Wei Hong, an NPC deputy and Sichuan's governor, said the railway will improve regional transportation capacity and integrate Tibet more closely with other parts of China.

A report published by the Sichuan delegation on Tuesday said the line will play an important role in the development of the proposed Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, as well as promoting ethnic unity and stability.

The delegation submitted five other proposals to the NPC, including a call for faster development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/cheng...t_19846906.htm

 

[TaiShang]

Sichuan-Tibet railway - - Chengdu to Lhasa

Sichuan-Tibet railway

The length of the existing Qinghai-Tibet railway is 1956 KM; even the shortest train ride from departure city of Xining takes 24 hours to reach Lhasa. Although now China has several Lhasa-bound trains from big cities, like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Chongqing and etc, yet they all takes more than 40 hours. This pace, however, obviously cannot meet the high-speed development of China--this new economic and political power. So, to build a new railway of shorter distance and higher speed is of great importance.

Against this background, Chengdu, as the biggest city in southwest China as well as a traditional harbor city for commodities and people to enter Tibet, comes into people's view. And now, people have three options to reach Lhasa from Chengdu: flight from Chengdu to Lhasa taking 2 hours; overland journey by National Highway of No 318 taking three days at least; Chengdu-Lhasa train via Qinghai-Tibet railway taking 44 hours, and it only departs every other day, difficult to buy train tickets. However, flight is too expensive though short, overland is too long though beautiful, Qinghai-Tibet railway is too difficult though appears fine.

So, to build a direct railway from Chengdu to Lhasa (Sichuan—Tibet Railway), is very necessary and significant.

The proposed Sichuan-Tibet railway will span 1,629 km, 650 km of which will be in Sichuan province. It is said that, trains will be designed to travel at a maximum speed of 200 km per hour and will take only eight hours to reach Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The railway is expected to be completed in 8 years with an investment of about 54 billion RMB ($US 7.9 billion). But so far, there has been no clear report concerning when will the Chinese government start to build the rail. There was report that the rail had been started from September, 2009, but soon the news was denied by the government.

Compared with building Qinghai-Tibet railway, it is more challengeable to build Sichuan-Tibet Railway, because the landforms across Sichuan and Tibet are more complicated and dangerous than that in northern Tibet where mainly vast flat grasslands are located. The construction of Sichuan-Tibet railway will not only confront the similar problems of permafrost, altitude sickness, environment protection, animal immigration, but also problems of mudslides, underground rivers, earthquakes, terrestrial heat and etc, many more tunnels and bridges have to be used.

No matter how difficult it is, based on China's rich railway construction experience and stable GDP growth, the proposed Sichuan-Tibet railway will start building in near future. On the other hand, construction of the Sichuan-Tibet railway will help propel economic and tourism development along the line too. Eighty-two counties and districts along the line in Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet boast snow-capped mountains, grasslands, and Tibetan and Buddhist cultures.

The Hengduan Mountains near the line have an abundance of natural resources, including water, vegetation and minerals. The Yulong Copper Mine near the mountain in Tibet has a proven reserve of 6.5 million tons of copper, first among the country's copper mines.

The railway is also designed to open up China's gateway to south Asia for bilateral economic and trade cooperation via land. Presently, Yadong (or Yatung) and Zhangmu connect Tibet with India and Nepal. The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will also open land passages from Central, East and South China to south Asia.

 

[cirr]

Sichuan-Tibet railway - - Chengdu to Lhasa

Sichuan-Tibet railway

The length of the existing Qinghai-Tibet railway is 1956 KM; even the shortest train ride from departure city of Xining takes 24 hours to reach Lhasa. Although now China has several Lhasa-bound trains from big cities, like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Chongqing and etc, yet they all takes more than 40 hours. This pace, however, obviously cannot meet the high-speed development of China--this new economic and political power. So, to build a new railway of shorter distance and higher speed is of great importance.

Against this background, Chengdu, as the biggest city in southwest China as well as a traditional harbor city for commodities and people to enter Tibet, comes into people's view. And now, people have three options to reach Lhasa from Chengdu: flight from Chengdu to Lhasa taking 2 hours; overland journey by National Highway of No 318 taking three days at least; Chengdu-Lhasa train via Qinghai-Tibet railway taking 44 hours, and it only departs every other day, difficult to buy train tickets. However, flight is too expensive though short, overland is too long though beautiful, Qinghai-Tibet railway is too difficult though appears fine.

So, to build a direct railway from Chengdu to Lhasa (Sichuan—Tibet Railway), is very necessary and significant.

The proposed Sichuan-Tibet railway will span 1,629 km, 650 km of which will be in Sichuan province. It is said that, trains will be designed to travel at a maximum speed of 200 km per hour and will take only eight hours to reach Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The railway is expected to be completed in 8 years with an investment of about 54 billion RMB ($US 7.9 billion). But so far, there has been no clear report concerning when will the Chinese government start to build the rail. There was report that the rail had been started from September, 2009, but soon the news was denied by the government.

Compared with building Qinghai-Tibet railway, it is more challengeable to build Sichuan-Tibet Railway, because the landforms across Sichuan and Tibet are more complicated and dangerous than that in northern Tibet where mainly vast flat grasslands are located. The construction of Sichuan-Tibet railway will not only confront the similar problems of permafrost, altitude sickness, environment protection, animal immigration, but also problems of mudslides, underground rivers, earthquakes, terrestrial heat and etc, many more tunnels and bridges have to be used.

No matter how difficult it is, based on China's rich railway construction experience and stable GDP growth, the proposed Sichuan-Tibet railway will start building in near future. On the other hand, construction of the Sichuan-Tibet railway will help propel economic and tourism development along the line too. Eighty-two counties and districts along the line in Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet boast snow-capped mountains, grasslands, and Tibetan and Buddhist cultures.

The Hengduan Mountains near the line have an abundance of natural resources, including water, vegetation and minerals. The Yulong Copper Mine near the mountain in Tibet has a proven reserve of 6.5 million tons of copper, first among the country's copper mines.

The railway is also designed to open up China's gateway to south Asia for bilateral economic and trade cooperation via land. Presently, Yadong (or Yatung) and Zhangmu connect Tibet with India and Nepal. The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will also open land passages from Central, East and South China to south Asia.

Also looking forward to the early approval of construction of the Shangrila-Nyingchi section of the Dian-Zang（Yunnan-Tibet）railway。

 

[AndrewJin]

Also looking forward to the early approval of construction of the Shangrila-Nyingchi section of the Dian-Zang（Yunnan-Tibet）railway。

Yes, Yunnan-Tibet railway will be easier. Wow, if really constructed, it will be more complicated than any man-made projects ever!

BTW, I'll go to Yunnan again this summer vocation for the fourth time.

Bullet trains are cities' jewel in the crown

By Lan Lan (China Daily)

Stations emerging as symbols of civic pride and routes to prosperity, reports Lan Lan.

Towns are just scattered pearls without access to the fastest trains around, but they can become a necklace when there is one.

That is why residents in Jingzhou, Hubei province, think it is essential to have such a line serve their city.

The State Council announced in September that a 2,000-kilometer bullet train project from Shanghai to Chengdu in Sichuan province would be built with a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The exact route quickly became a subject of controversy.

The Yangtze River Business Chamber, based in Jingzhou, organized a petition drive in March at which it gathered tens of thousands of signatures in parks, stations and public squares.

Wang Jinghui, secretary-general of the chamber, told China Daily that the chance to have such a facility will not come twice for his historic city, known as the major setting of the Chinese classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"People of all ages were so enthusiastic about the high-speed rail and they all wanted to contribute. We are so proud of our history and a high-speed rail line could help us regain our ancient glory," said Wang.

The problem for Jingzhou is that an express train that runs 200 km/hour already stops in the city. Jingmen, 80 km to the north, also wants to have a stop on the new line－and it now has no high-speed rail service at all.

Xiong Bing, chairman of Jingmen-based Chang Yuan Science and Technology Ltd, posted a video online, in which he said that "not having a high-speed rail line has hampered the city's development and affected civic pride". That attracted tens of thousands of clicks.

"Jingmen shouldn't be the only prefecture-level city in Hubei province that has no high-speed train or bullet train," he said.

The latest developments look good for Jingmen. Hubei's Party Chief Li Hongzhong said last Wednesday that it has been essentially decided that the railway will run through Jingmen.

"Jingmen will step up planning and research and strive for early implementation of the project with support from both the central and provincial governments," said Li.

"If it can't be built in Jingzhou, it should be built in a place in between the two cities," said Wang, expressing regret at this lost opportunity.

However, Peng Zhimin, an expert with the Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, said that putting a station in the middle of nowhere in the quest for fairness could be a losing proposition. Usually, places like that are not well-developed, which means higher infrastructure investment and a longer payback period for the facility.

As the rail network expands, this tale of two cities has been repeated in many other places. For example, Shangyang and Loudi in Hunan province and Xinye and Dengzhou in Henan province have competed to host high-speed rail facilities.

More similar stories are likely as policymakers ramp up high-speed rail investment. On Monday, the National Development and Reform Commission approved a host of new railway projects with a total investment of 243.58 billion yuan ($39.2 billion).

The government has set a spending target of 800 billion yuan on domestic railway construction this year, about the same as last year. Rail projects, along with highways, in the central and western regions of China, are regarded as a priority.

Guo Xiaopei, director of the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation under the NDRC, said that the government will take public sentiment into account, but the final decision on a rail line should rest on feasibility studies.

High-speed rail lines are technically demanding projects that present many geological and environmental challenges and have strict requirements for safety, Guo said.

But it is also true that local governments have gained a bigger say in such projects as railway financing is opening up to various capital sources including local governments and private investors. With the economy slowing, some cities are experiencing fiscal problems. Such cities do not want to get financially involved in new high-speed lines because of the long payback periods, said Guo.

But for some prefecture-level or county-level cities, a new railway, particularly a high-speed rail line, is still significant, said Guo.

Apart from the convenience it means for passengers and businesses, a new economic center usually forms around a railway station. So a high-speed rail stop can create jobs and alleviate the transportation, housing and education pressures facing many cities.

"A railway can bring prosperity to a city. That's certainly been the experience when it comes to conventional railways," he said.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/busines...t_20767002.htm

Yep, Jingzhou&Jingmen, netizens quarrelled crazily.
It takes only 1-1.5 hour from Wuhan to Jingzhou by semi-HSR(200-250kph) , 50-70 pairs daily. People from Jingmen are really jealous, it takes 3-4 hours for 240km by the old single-track line. I think the best option is build the second 350kph HSR through Jingmen, and build another 250-300kph Wuhan-Jingzhou-Yichang Intercity since the current HSR is kind of near the limit.

 

[AndrewJin]

96.96 km 200kph Dongguan-Huizhou Intercity in trial run

Dongguan–Huizhou Intercity Railway, also known as the Guanhui Intercity Railway or Guanhui City Railway, is a high-speed railway within Guangdong province, China. It runs between the cities of Dongguan and Huizhou in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). Part of a larger radiating intercity rail transit network, called Pearl River Delta Rapid Transit, across the PRD region, directly connecting with the Guangzhou–Dongguan–Shenzhen Intercity Railway and the planned Foshan-Dongguan Intercity Railway. Route length is 96.96 kilometers, with an estimated construction budget of 25.3 billion RMB. The construction period is planned to take three and a half years.[1] 3 renovated and 14 new stations are being built along the route. It has been built with a design speed of 200 kilometres per hour.

96.96km, 200km/h, 17 stations, including several underground stations
part of the Pearl River Delta Rapid Transit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The trial train is Yellow Doctor(CRH380A)
The final type of operating train has not been decided yet, most likely made-in-Canton CRH6
@Yizhi Made in Guangdong!

One characteristics of this Intercity railway is that both railway signal system and metro signal system are compatible. @ahojunk

 

[cirr]

High-speed rail keeps Guangxi growth on track

Updated: 2015-06-23 07:37

By Huo Yan and Xin Dingding(China Daily)

A new service is providing the first express link between Beijing and a badly disadvantaged area. The service, primarily designed to aid the development of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, has been successful so far, and there are now plans to extend its coverage, as Huo Yan and Xin Dingding report from Nanning.

A high-speed rail network that stretches almost 2,500 kilometers across a single country is not a common phenomenon.

In Japan, such a network would be impossible - the train would simply have to pull up at the island nation's Pacific coast - and in Europe, pan-continental high-speed railways have yet to take shape, although many European countries have built their own networks.

In September, a high-speed rail service opened between Beijing and Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a distance of 2,489 km. The line is now the longest in China, and makes Guangxi the first of the country's five autonomous regions to be linked to the capital by high-speed rail.

Guangxi, in South China, is home to 12 ethnic groups. The region borders Vietnam, and its long coastline with Southeast Asia means it's regarded as a major gateway to member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Despite those advantages, more than 30 years after the start of the reform and opening-up policy Guangdong province has become China's economic powerhouse, while Guangxi's GDP is worth just a fifth of that of its smaller neighbor.

Poor infrastructure

Many observers have blamed the disparity on the region's immature transport infrastructure, which was so poor that before December, there were no direct rail connections between Nanning and nearby Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong. Every year as the Spring Festival holiday approached, the expressways would be clogged with hundreds of thousands of migrant workers riding motorbikes from their workplaces in Guangdong to their homes in Guangxi.

Now, things are changing and a high-speed railway network is being planned that would crisscross China's 9.63 million square kilometers of territory. An extended network of this type would enable passengers to zip between major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and other parts of the country within half a day.

The ambitious plan has already been realized in Guangxi, where more than 1,000 km of high-speed rail came into use in 2013. Now, the trip from Beijing to Nanning takes 13 hours and 30 minutes, cutting the journey time by half. Passengers can depart from North China in the morning, and arrive in South China in the evening.

The streamlined train departs Beijing West Railway Station at 7:30 am and initially uses the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed line, reaching a top speed of 300 km/h. When the train reaches Hengyang in Hunan province, it slows to a maximum 200 km/h and switches track to the Hengyang-Liuzhou line. The last change in the journey comes when the train switches again, this time to the Liuzhou-Nanning high-speed line.

Although the journey time has been cut by almost half, frequent station stops - approximately one every 30 minutes - nullify the advantages offered by the high speeds the train can attain.

Puffing on the platform

The frequent stops may annoy some passengers, but one group is eternally grateful. Smoking is banned in the trains, but the regular stops - which can last from two minutes to eight - mean heavy smokers flood out onto the platforms as soon as the train pulls up.

Zhou Xiang, who has worked on the new line since it was launched, has heard many smokers complain about how challenging they find the journey.

On slower trains, passengers can smoke in the door wells of the carriages, but smoking is banned everywhere on high-speed trains. According to the railway police in Nanning, 106 passengers were fined for smoking on the train last year.

"You can see them quickly lining up by the door when the train begins to slow down (for a stop). They always have a cigarette between their lips and a lighter in one hand. (They are) just like soldiers lining up with their weapons before going to the front," Zhou said.

Some of the more desperate smokers have even sparked arguments with the train attendants as they attempted to get out of the carriage as quickly as possible to make the most of each short stop.

On May 26, a passenger on train G529 tried to force the attendant to stand behind him so he could stand directly in front of the door and be the first passenger to disembark. His argument was "first come, first served", but he eventually relented when the attendant explained that she was duty bound to stand in front of the doors as the train comes to a halt to keep a watch for any obstructions or other activity on the platforms.

However, it's not just smokers who jump on and off the train. Five drivers work in relays during the long journey, said Wei Richun, a senior official at the Nanning Railway Bureau.

Just as safety regulations mean the working hours of commercial pilots are strictly regulated, with a team of two limited to 14 hours a day, drivers of high-speed trains are not allowed to be at the controls for more than three hours at a time, Wei said.

The drivers work for the four railway bureaus that administer the areas through which the train travels. A driver from the Beijing Railway Bureau is behind the wheel between Beijing and Zhengzhou in Henan, where another driver, this time from the Zhengzhou Railway Bureau, takes over until the train reaches Wuhan in Hubei province. The Wuhan Railway Bureau provides the next driver, who operates the train until Changsha in Hunnan province, when a driver sent by the bureau in Nanning takes over. He drives the train to Guilin in Guangxi, where a second driver is waiting to take the controls for the final leg of the journey to Nanning.

After resting for several hours in purpose-built apartment buildings, the drivers begin their journeys again, this time in the opposite direction, and return home.

While the drivers work short shifts, conductors and attendants such as Zhou have to stay at their posts throughout the entire journey, without taking a break.

"We feel under much greater pressure now than when we worked on the slower trains, because we used to work set times, and after an eight-hour stretch, we could take a break in our cabin. Now though, there's just no place or time to rest," he said.

The pressure is heightened by the fact that the assistants and guards have to deal with any emergencies that might arise on the high-speed trains, which each cost more than 100 million yuan ($16 million), he said.

Price/time balance

Although the long journey can be tedious, many passengers said the high-speed rail provides the best balance of time and cost.

A young mother from Luoyang, Henan province, who was taking her 11-month-old baby to Nanning to visit her husband and father-in-law who sell furniture in the city, said she cannot afford to travel by air.

Although the flight between Beijing and Nanning only takes about three hours, the ticket price of 1,800 yuan is nearly twice that of the high-speed rail service.

The woman, who preferred not to give her name, said she was relieved when the high-speed train was launched because the previous rail services were inconvenient.

"We used to get on a Nanning-bound train at Zhengzhou railway station at midnight, and get off at 5 the next morning," she said. "It would be torture to take the baby to Nanning that way."

Yang Hao, a professor of rail transportation management at Beijing Jiaotong University, said that the railway will provide a good supplement to air travel because the trains stop at a large number of small cities and towns that airlines won't visit because it's not economically viable for them to do so.

According to Wei, the railway official in Nanning, tourism in Guangxi has been boosted by a large rise in the number of people taking short trips on the train to local stations.

Several years ago, a friend invited Wei to attend his child's wedding in Guilin, but Wei declined because the journey would take four hours.

Now, the high-speed railway has cut the travel time to just two hours and 30 minutes. "If people leave in the early afternoon they can make a wedding banquet in the evening and then return home on the last train," he said. "If I was asked again I certainly wouldn't decline the invitation."

Contact the writers at huoyan@chinadaily.com.cn and xindingding@chinadaily.com.cn

A high-speed train crosses a bridge in Yangshuo in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. China's longest high-speed railway service, which links Beijing and Nanning, capital of the Guangxi, is 2,489 kilometers in length. Guangxi is the first of China's five autonomous regions to be linked to the capital by high-speed rail. Tang Yizhi / for China Daily

Passengers in Nanning taking a high-speed train for Beijing when the railway opened in September. Chen Fuping / for China Daily

A girl points at scenery along the Beijing-Nanjing high-speed rail line. Guangxi is a major gateway between China and ASEAN countries. Chen Fuping / for China Daily

(China Daily 06/23/2015 page5)

High-speed rail keeps Guangxi growth on track|Cover Story|chinadaily.com.cn

 

[TaiShang]

Important High-Speed Railway Lines in China

The construction of high-speed railways in China began with the building of the Qinhuangdao–Shenyang High-Speed Railway in 1999. Now the high-speed rail network in China is the largest in the world. As of the end of 2012, there are about 17,000 kilometers of high-speed rail in service, accommodating trains of an average speed of 200 km/h or higher.

China's high-speed rail plans are ambitious, planning to invest $300 billion to construct the largest, fastest, and most technologically advanced high-speed railway system in the world by 2020. It is predicted that the HSR (High-Speed Railway) network will reach 30,000 kilometers when the major rail lines are completed. China's high-speed railway network is made up of four components: upgraded pre-existing rail lines that can accommodate high-speed trains, a national grid of mostly passenger dedicated HSR lines (PDLs), certain regional intercity HSR lines, and the Maglev High-Speed Line.

It is becoming a trendy thing to take high speed rail for travels. Our app, China Train Booking, allows you to catch up and turn your smartphone into a ticket office.

Mostly-Passenger-Dedicated High-Speed Rail Grid
The main high-speed rail network in China is like a grid, which mainly consists of 8 long-distance high-speed rail lines: four north–south HSR lines and four east–west HSR lines. Except for the Qingdao–Taiyuan HSR, all HSR lines of the rail grid are longer than 1,000 kilometers. In 2012 the total length of HSR lines in the main grid reached 12,000 kilometers. The PDLs accommodate trains of a speed of up to 300 km/h; and mixed passenger and cargo lines serve trains of a speed of between 200 and 250 km/h.

The Four Main North–South HSR Lines
Beijing–Shanghai (Fully Operational)

Distance:1,433 kilometers
Design Speed:350 km/h

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Beijing South, Langfang, Tianjin West, Cangzhou West, Dezhou East,Jinan West, Taian, Tengzhou East, Zaozhuang, Xuzhou East, Bangbu South, Dingyuan, Chuzhou, Nanjing South, Zhenjiang South, Danyang North, Changzhou North, Wuxi East, Kunshan South and Shanghai Hongqiao.

D317 stops at all stations, and most G trains stop at several of them, taking 8 hours and 50 minutes. The fastest train G3 takes 4 hours and 48 minutes, with one stop at Nanjing South.

Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong (Partly Operational)

Distance: 2,260 kilometers
Design Speed: 350 km/h

It is the longest passenger dedicated high-speed rail line in the world, consisting of the Beijing–Shijiazhuang HSR line, the Shijiazhuang–Wuhan HSR line, the Wuhan–Guangzhou HSR line, the Guangzhou–Shenzhen HSR line, and the Shenzhen–Hong Kong HSR line(to be opened in 2016). It is a main north–south high-speed rail line, connecting North China, Central China, and South China.

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Beijing West, Baoding East,Shijiazhuang, Handan East, Hebi East, Zhengzhou East, Zhumadian West, Xiaogan North, Wuhan, Yueyang East, Changsha South, Heng Mountain West, Hengyang East, Laiyang West, Chenzhou West, Guangzhou South, and Shenzhen North.

Three G trains service the route: G71, G79, and G81. G71 stops at all the stations. The latter two trains only go as far as Guangzhou South. The fastest train G79, traveling from Beijing to Guangzhou, takes 8 hours, with stops at Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou East, Wuhan, and Changsha South.

Though Shenzhen–Hong Kong high-speed railway is under construction, conventional trains from Shenzhen to Hong Kong are available. Online schedule search and booking fortrains to Hong Kong is not available in China. It is exclusive to train ticket offices. Though it is much harder to buy train tickets to Hong Kong, we at China Highlights will do our best to purchase the tickets for you. You only need to email us with the travel date and passengers’ information, and we will do the rest.

Beijing–Harbin (fully operational)

Distance: 1,700 kilometers
Design Speed: 350km/h

It connects Northeast China with the national capital Beijing. The railway has two branch lines: from Shenyang to Dalian and from Panjin to Yingkou.

Stations on the Main Line (vary between services): Beijing, Tangshan North, Beidaihe,Shanhaiguan, Suizhong North, Jinzhou South,Shenyang North, Tieling West, Kaiyuan West, Siping East, Changchun West, Shuangcheng North and Harbin West.

D25 stops at all stations, taking 8 hours and 12 minutes. The other three high-speed trains traveling on the route are D29, D101, and D27, which stop at 11 stations, taking 7 hours and 50 minutes.

Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen (Partly Operational)

Distance: 1,600 kilometers

It consists of the Hangzhou–Ningbo HSR line, the Ningbo–Taizhou–Wenzhou HSR line, the Wenzhou–Fuzhou HSR line, the Fuzhou–Xiamen HSR line, and the Xiamen–Shenzhen HSR line(to be in service in 2013), connecting the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. The Hangzhou–Ningbo section is passenger dedicated, with a design speed of 350 km/h. The rest is for passenger and cargo mixed utilization, with a design speed of 250 km/h.

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Hangzhou East, Shangyu North,Ningbo East, Ninghai, Linhai, Taizhou, Wenling, Yandangshan, Wenzhou South, Ruian, Aojiang, Cangnan, Fuding, Tailaoshan, Xiapu, Ningde,Fuzhou South, Fuqing, Putian, Quanzhou, Jinjiang, and Xiamen North.

D3209 stops at all the stations and the journey is 7 hours and 29 minutes. The fastest trainD3117 stops at 5 stations less than D3209, and takes 6 hours and 53 minutes. Other D trains travelling on the route stop 1 to 5 stations less, and take about 7 hours.

The Four East–West HSR Lines
Qingdao–Taiyuan (Partly Operational)
Distance:770 kilometers
Design Speed: 200 to 250 km/h

Qingdao–Taiyuan HSR line consists of the Qingdao–Jinan HRS line , the Jinan–Shijiazhuang HSR line (opening 2016), and the Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan HSR line.

Currently you can travel from Qingdao to Jinan in one and a half hours by the fastest train G196 with a stop at Weifang. Non-stop trains from Shijiazhuang to TaiyuanG91 and D2009 only take 1 hour and 17 minutes to complete the journey.

Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu (Partly Operational)
Distance: 1,600 kilometers

The Shanghai–Chengdu HSR line consists of the Shanghai–Nanjing HSR line, the Nanjing–Hefei HSR line, the Hefei–Wuhan HSR line, the Wuhan (Hankou)–Yichang HSR line, the Yichang–Wanzhou HSR line, the Lichuan–Chongqing HSR line, the Chongqing–Suining HSR line, and the Suining–Chengdu HSR line.

High-speed trains on most of the route have an average speed of 200 to 250 km/h, except on the line from Yichang to Wanzhou (160 km/h), because of the curves in the track needed to get around the landforms in the area.

Until the line from Lichuan to Chongqing is in service you can travel from Shanghai to Yichang, from Yichang to Wanzhou, and from Chongqing to Chengdu by high-speed trains. Taking a Three Gorges Yangtze cruise between Chongqing and Yichang would be a nice way to break up a high speed journey if you have time to take in the scenery.

There are 18 stations on theShanghai–Yichangroute: Shanghai Hongqiao, Kunshan South, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Danyang, Zhenjiang, Nanjing South, Quanjiao, Hefei, Liuan, Jinzhai, Macheng North, Hankou(Wuhan), Tianmen South, Qianjiang, Jingzhou, and Yichang East.

Two high-speed trains travel between Shanghai and Yichang every day: D3072(stopping at all stations, and taking 8 hours and 15 minutes) and D3006 (stopping at 13 stations, and taking 7 hours and 48 minute).

Inonlytwo hours, you can travel from Chongqing to Chengdu. There are 17 high-speed train services on the route, at intervals of one to two hours.

Xuzhou–Lanzhou (Partly Operational)
Distance: 1,400 kilometers

Only one part of the route is in service: the line from Zhengzhou to Xi’an. The rest is under construction: Xuzhou–Zhengzhou (open date: December 2016), Xi’an–Baoji, and Baoji–Lanzhou (open date: 2017).

It provides 26 G train and D train services every day at intervals of one hour. You only need 2 hours to travel from Zhengzhou to Xi’an by the fastest non-stop train G97. The other G trains and D trains take 2½ to 3 hours.

Shanghai–Kunming (Partly Operational)
Distance: 2,080 kilometers
Design Speed: 350 km/h

The Shanghai–Kunming HSR line is partly operational from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The Hangzhou–Changsha line (open date: 2014) and Changsha–Kunming line (open date: 2017) are under construction. It will connect East China and Central China with Southwest China after its completion.

66 G train and D train services travel between Shanghai and Hangzhou every day at intervals of 10 minutes to one hour. The journey is 47 minutes by the fastest G trains: G7535 and G7509 have one stop at Jiaxing South, and G7555 has one stop at Haining West.

Regional Intercity HSR LinesRegional intercity HSR lines are short-distance, passenger-dedicated high-speed lines connecting cities in the same province, area, or regional. They are independent from the national high-speed rail grid, with an average speed of 200 to 250 km/h, sometimes up to 300km/h. Operational intercity HSR lines in China are listed below:

HSR Line Distance Design Speed Duration
Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway 115 350 33 minutes
Chengdu–Dujiangyan Intercity Railway 65 220 35 minutes
Shanghai–Nanjing Intercity Railway 301 350 1 hour and 35 minutes
Nanchang–Jiujiang Intercity Railway 131 250 1 hour
Hainan Eastern Ring Railway 308 250 1 hour and 34 minutes
Changchun–Jilin Intercity Railway 111 250 40 minutes
Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway 117 200 59 minutes
Nanjing–Hangzhou Intercity Railway 251 350 1 hour and 35 minutes

Maglev High Speed Rail
Shanghai's Maglev Train was the first magnetically levitated high-speed train line in operation the world. It is owned and operated by Shanghai's city government. All other high-speed trains in China are owned and operated by the China Railway Corporation.

Shanghai's Maglev Train, launched in 2004, has the maximum speed of 431 km/h. It runs between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai's Longyang Road Metro Station at intervals of 15 to 20 minutes. The journey is only about 8 minutes, and a one-way ticket is RMB 50.

 

[AndrewJin]

One bullet train was hit by rocks on the Chengdu-Chongqing HSR,
said to be caused by heavy rain.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Important High-Speed Railway Lines in China

The construction of high-speed railways in China began with the building of the Qinhuangdao–Shenyang High-Speed Railway in 1999. Now the high-speed rail network in China is the largest in the world. As of the end of 2012, there are about 17,000 kilometers of high-speed rail in service, accommodating trains of an average speed of 200 km/h or higher.

China's high-speed rail plans are ambitious, planning to invest $300 billion to construct the largest, fastest, and most technologically advanced high-speed railway system in the world by 2020. It is predicted that the HSR (High-Speed Railway) network will reach 30,000 kilometers when the major rail lines are completed. China's high-speed railway network is made up of four components: upgraded pre-existing rail lines that can accommodate high-speed trains, a national grid of mostly passenger dedicated HSR lines (PDLs), certain regional intercity HSR lines, and the Maglev High-Speed Line.

It is becoming a trendy thing to take high speed rail for travels. Our app, China Train Booking, allows you to catch up and turn your smartphone into a ticket office.

Mostly-Passenger-Dedicated High-Speed Rail Grid
The main high-speed rail network in China is like a grid, which mainly consists of 8 long-distance high-speed rail lines: four north–south HSR lines and four east–west HSR lines. Except for the Qingdao–Taiyuan HSR, all HSR lines of the rail grid are longer than 1,000 kilometers. In 2012 the total length of HSR lines in the main grid reached 12,000 kilometers. The PDLs accommodate trains of a speed of up to 300 km/h; and mixed passenger and cargo lines serve trains of a speed of between 200 and 250 km/h.

The Four Main North–South HSR Lines
Beijing–Shanghai (Fully Operational)

Distance:1,433 kilometers
Design Speed:350 km/h

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Beijing South, Langfang, Tianjin West, Cangzhou West, Dezhou East,Jinan West, Taian, Tengzhou East, Zaozhuang, Xuzhou East, Bangbu South, Dingyuan, Chuzhou, Nanjing South, Zhenjiang South, Danyang North, Changzhou North, Wuxi East, Kunshan South and Shanghai Hongqiao.

D317 stops at all stations, and most G trains stop at several of them, taking 8 hours and 50 minutes. The fastest train G3 takes 4 hours and 48 minutes, with one stop at Nanjing South.

Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong (Partly Operational)

Distance: 2,260 kilometers
Design Speed: 350 km/h

It is the longest passenger dedicated high-speed rail line in the world, consisting of the Beijing–Shijiazhuang HSR line, the Shijiazhuang–Wuhan HSR line, the Wuhan–Guangzhou HSR line, the Guangzhou–Shenzhen HSR line, and the Shenzhen–Hong Kong HSR line(to be opened in 2016). It is a main north–south high-speed rail line, connecting North China, Central China, and South China.

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Beijing West, Baoding East,Shijiazhuang, Handan East, Hebi East, Zhengzhou East, Zhumadian West, Xiaogan North, Wuhan, Yueyang East, Changsha South, Heng Mountain West, Hengyang East, Laiyang West, Chenzhou West, Guangzhou South, and Shenzhen North.

Three G trains service the route: G71, G79, and G81. G71 stops at all the stations. The latter two trains only go as far as Guangzhou South. The fastest train G79, traveling from Beijing to Guangzhou, takes 8 hours, with stops at Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou East, Wuhan, and Changsha South.

Though Shenzhen–Hong Kong high-speed railway is under construction, conventional trains from Shenzhen to Hong Kong are available. Online schedule search and booking fortrains to Hong Kong is not available in China. It is exclusive to train ticket offices. Though it is much harder to buy train tickets to Hong Kong, we at China Highlights will do our best to purchase the tickets for you. You only need to email us with the travel date and passengers’ information, and we will do the rest.

Beijing–Harbin (fully operational)

Distance: 1,700 kilometers
Design Speed: 350km/h

It connects Northeast China with the national capital Beijing. The railway has two branch lines: from Shenyang to Dalian and from Panjin to Yingkou.

Stations on the Main Line (vary between services): Beijing, Tangshan North, Beidaihe,Shanhaiguan, Suizhong North, Jinzhou South,Shenyang North, Tieling West, Kaiyuan West, Siping East, Changchun West, Shuangcheng North and Harbin West.

D25 stops at all stations, taking 8 hours and 12 minutes. The other three high-speed trains traveling on the route are D29, D101, and D27, which stop at 11 stations, taking 7 hours and 50 minutes.

Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen (Partly Operational)

Distance: 1,600 kilometers

It consists of the Hangzhou–Ningbo HSR line, the Ningbo–Taizhou–Wenzhou HSR line, the Wenzhou–Fuzhou HSR line, the Fuzhou–Xiamen HSR line, and the Xiamen–Shenzhen HSR line(to be in service in 2013), connecting the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. The Hangzhou–Ningbo section is passenger dedicated, with a design speed of 350 km/h. The rest is for passenger and cargo mixed utilization, with a design speed of 250 km/h.

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Hangzhou East, Shangyu North,Ningbo East, Ninghai, Linhai, Taizhou, Wenling, Yandangshan, Wenzhou South, Ruian, Aojiang, Cangnan, Fuding, Tailaoshan, Xiapu, Ningde,Fuzhou South, Fuqing, Putian, Quanzhou, Jinjiang, and Xiamen North.

D3209 stops at all the stations and the journey is 7 hours and 29 minutes. The fastest trainD3117 stops at 5 stations less than D3209, and takes 6 hours and 53 minutes. Other D trains travelling on the route stop 1 to 5 stations less, and take about 7 hours.

The Four East–West HSR Lines
Qingdao–Taiyuan (Partly Operational)
Distance:770 kilometers
Design Speed: 200 to 250 km/h

Qingdao–Taiyuan HSR line consists of the Qingdao–Jinan HRS line , the Jinan–Shijiazhuang HSR line (opening 2016), and the Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan HSR line.

Currently you can travel from Qingdao to Jinan in one and a half hours by the fastest train G196 with a stop at Weifang. Non-stop trains from Shijiazhuang to TaiyuanG91 and D2009 only take 1 hour and 17 minutes to complete the journey.

Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu (Partly Operational)
Distance: 1,600 kilometers

The Shanghai–Chengdu HSR line consists of the Shanghai–Nanjing HSR line, the Nanjing–Hefei HSR line, the Hefei–Wuhan HSR line, the Wuhan (Hankou)–Yichang HSR line, the Yichang–Wanzhou HSR line, the Lichuan–Chongqing HSR line, the Chongqing–Suining HSR line, and the Suining–Chengdu HSR line.

High-speed trains on most of the route have an average speed of 200 to 250 km/h, except on the line from Yichang to Wanzhou (160 km/h), because of the curves in the track needed to get around the landforms in the area.

Until the line from Lichuan to Chongqing is in service you can travel from Shanghai to Yichang, from Yichang to Wanzhou, and from Chongqing to Chengdu by high-speed trains. Taking a Three Gorges Yangtze cruise between Chongqing and Yichang would be a nice way to break up a high speed journey if you have time to take in the scenery.

There are 18 stations on theShanghai–Yichangroute: Shanghai Hongqiao, Kunshan South, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Danyang, Zhenjiang, Nanjing South, Quanjiao, Hefei, Liuan, Jinzhai, Macheng North, Hankou(Wuhan), Tianmen South, Qianjiang, Jingzhou, and Yichang East.

Two high-speed trains travel between Shanghai and Yichang every day: D3072(stopping at all stations, and taking 8 hours and 15 minutes) and D3006 (stopping at 13 stations, and taking 7 hours and 48 minute).

Inonlytwo hours, you can travel from Chongqing to Chengdu. There are 17 high-speed train services on the route, at intervals of one to two hours.

Xuzhou–Lanzhou (Partly Operational)
Distance: 1,400 kilometers

Only one part of the route is in service: the line from Zhengzhou to Xi’an. The rest is under construction: Xuzhou–Zhengzhou (open date: December 2016), Xi’an–Baoji, and Baoji–Lanzhou (open date: 2017).

It provides 26 G train and D train services every day at intervals of one hour. You only need 2 hours to travel from Zhengzhou to Xi’an by the fastest non-stop train G97. The other G trains and D trains take 2½ to 3 hours.

Shanghai–Kunming (Partly Operational)
Distance: 2,080 kilometers
Design Speed: 350 km/h

The Shanghai–Kunming HSR line is partly operational from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The Hangzhou–Changsha line (open date: 2014) and Changsha–Kunming line (open date: 2017) are under construction. It will connect East China and Central China with Southwest China after its completion.

66 G train and D train services travel between Shanghai and Hangzhou every day at intervals of 10 minutes to one hour. The journey is 47 minutes by the fastest G trains: G7535 and G7509 have one stop at Jiaxing South, and G7555 has one stop at Haining West.

Regional Intercity HSR LinesRegional intercity HSR lines are short-distance, passenger-dedicated high-speed lines connecting cities in the same province, area, or regional. They are independent from the national high-speed rail grid, with an average speed of 200 to 250 km/h, sometimes up to 300km/h. Operational intercity HSR lines in China are listed below:

HSR Line Distance Design Speed Duration
Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway 115 350 33 minutes
Chengdu–Dujiangyan Intercity Railway 65 220 35 minutes
Shanghai–Nanjing Intercity Railway 301 350 1 hour and 35 minutes
Nanchang–Jiujiang Intercity Railway 131 250 1 hour
Hainan Eastern Ring Railway 308 250 1 hour and 34 minutes
Changchun–Jilin Intercity Railway 111 250 40 minutes
Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway 117 200 59 minutes
Nanjing–Hangzhou Intercity Railway 251 350 1 hour and 35 minutes

Maglev High Speed Rail
Shanghai's Maglev Train was the first magnetically levitated high-speed train line in operation the world. It is owned and operated by Shanghai's city government. All other high-speed trains in China are owned and operated by the China Railway Corporation.

Shanghai's Maglev Train, launched in 2004, has the maximum speed of 431 km/h. It runs between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai's Longyang Road Metro Station at intervals of 15 to 20 minutes. The journey is only about 8 minutes, and a one-way ticket is RMB 50.

Four north–south HSR lines and four east–west HSR lines are at least 90% done
Another north-south Hefei-Fuzhou HSR is due to open in one week!

 

[cirr]

Important High-Speed Railway Lines in China

The construction of high-speed railways in China began with the building of the Qinhuangdao–Shenyang High-Speed Railway in 1999. Now the high-speed rail network in China is the largest in the world. As of the end of 2012, there are about 17,000 kilometers of high-speed rail in service, accommodating trains of an average speed of 200 km/h or higher.

China's high-speed rail plans are ambitious, planning to invest $300 billion to construct the largest, fastest, and most technologically advanced high-speed railway system in the world by 2020. It is predicted that the HSR (High-Speed Railway) network will reach 30,000 kilometers when the major rail lines are completed. China's high-speed railway network is made up of four components: upgraded pre-existing rail lines that can accommodate high-speed trains, a national grid of mostly passenger dedicated HSR lines (PDLs), certain regional intercity HSR lines, and the Maglev High-Speed Line.

It is becoming a trendy thing to take high speed rail for travels. Our app, China Train Booking, allows you to catch up and turn your smartphone into a ticket office.

Mostly-Passenger-Dedicated High-Speed Rail Grid
The main high-speed rail network in China is like a grid, which mainly consists of 8 long-distance high-speed rail lines: four north–south HSR lines and four east–west HSR lines. Except for the Qingdao–Taiyuan HSR, all HSR lines of the rail grid are longer than 1,000 kilometers. In 2012 the total length of HSR lines in the main grid reached 12,000 kilometers. The PDLs accommodate trains of a speed of up to 300 km/h; and mixed passenger and cargo lines serve trains of a speed of between 200 and 250 km/h.

The Four Main North–South HSR Lines
Beijing–Shanghai (Fully Operational)

Distance:1,433 kilometers
Design Speed:350 km/h

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Beijing South, Langfang, Tianjin West, Cangzhou West, Dezhou East,Jinan West, Taian, Tengzhou East, Zaozhuang, Xuzhou East, Bangbu South, Dingyuan, Chuzhou, Nanjing South, Zhenjiang South, Danyang North, Changzhou North, Wuxi East, Kunshan South and Shanghai Hongqiao.

D317 stops at all stations, and most G trains stop at several of them, taking 8 hours and 50 minutes. The fastest train G3 takes 4 hours and 48 minutes, with one stop at Nanjing South.

Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong (Partly Operational)

Distance: 2,260 kilometers
Design Speed: 350 km/h

It is the longest passenger dedicated high-speed rail line in the world, consisting of the Beijing–Shijiazhuang HSR line, the Shijiazhuang–Wuhan HSR line, the Wuhan–Guangzhou HSR line, the Guangzhou–Shenzhen HSR line, and the Shenzhen–Hong Kong HSR line(to be opened in 2016). It is a main north–south high-speed rail line, connecting North China, Central China, and South China.

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Beijing West, Baoding East,Shijiazhuang, Handan East, Hebi East, Zhengzhou East, Zhumadian West, Xiaogan North, Wuhan, Yueyang East, Changsha South, Heng Mountain West, Hengyang East, Laiyang West, Chenzhou West, Guangzhou South, and Shenzhen North.

Three G trains service the route: G71, G79, and G81. G71 stops at all the stations. The latter two trains only go as far as Guangzhou South. The fastest train G79, traveling from Beijing to Guangzhou, takes 8 hours, with stops at Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou East, Wuhan, and Changsha South.

Though Shenzhen–Hong Kong high-speed railway is under construction, conventional trains from Shenzhen to Hong Kong are available. Online schedule search and booking fortrains to Hong Kong is not available in China. It is exclusive to train ticket offices. Though it is much harder to buy train tickets to Hong Kong, we at China Highlights will do our best to purchase the tickets for you. You only need to email us with the travel date and passengers’ information, and we will do the rest.

Beijing–Harbin (fully operational)

Distance: 1,700 kilometers
Design Speed: 350km/h

It connects Northeast China with the national capital Beijing. The railway has two branch lines: from Shenyang to Dalian and from Panjin to Yingkou.

Stations on the Main Line (vary between services): Beijing, Tangshan North, Beidaihe,Shanhaiguan, Suizhong North, Jinzhou South,Shenyang North, Tieling West, Kaiyuan West, Siping East, Changchun West, Shuangcheng North and Harbin West.

D25 stops at all stations, taking 8 hours and 12 minutes. The other three high-speed trains traveling on the route are D29, D101, and D27, which stop at 11 stations, taking 7 hours and 50 minutes.

Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen (Partly Operational)

Distance: 1,600 kilometers

It consists of the Hangzhou–Ningbo HSR line, the Ningbo–Taizhou–Wenzhou HSR line, the Wenzhou–Fuzhou HSR line, the Fuzhou–Xiamen HSR line, and the Xiamen–Shenzhen HSR line(to be in service in 2013), connecting the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. The Hangzhou–Ningbo section is passenger dedicated, with a design speed of 350 km/h. The rest is for passenger and cargo mixed utilization, with a design speed of 250 km/h.

Stations on the Route (vary between services): Hangzhou East, Shangyu North,Ningbo East, Ninghai, Linhai, Taizhou, Wenling, Yandangshan, Wenzhou South, Ruian, Aojiang, Cangnan, Fuding, Tailaoshan, Xiapu, Ningde,Fuzhou South, Fuqing, Putian, Quanzhou, Jinjiang, and Xiamen North.

D3209 stops at all the stations and the journey is 7 hours and 29 minutes. The fastest trainD3117 stops at 5 stations less than D3209, and takes 6 hours and 53 minutes. Other D trains travelling on the route stop 1 to 5 stations less, and take about 7 hours.

The Four East–West HSR Lines
Qingdao–Taiyuan (Partly Operational)
Distance:770 kilometers
Design Speed: 200 to 250 km/h

Qingdao–Taiyuan HSR line consists of the Qingdao–Jinan HRS line , the Jinan–Shijiazhuang HSR line (opening 2016), and the Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan HSR line.

Currently you can travel from Qingdao to Jinan in one and a half hours by the fastest train G196 with a stop at Weifang. Non-stop trains from Shijiazhuang to TaiyuanG91 and D2009 only take 1 hour and 17 minutes to complete the journey.

Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu (Partly Operational)
Distance: 1,600 kilometers

The Shanghai–Chengdu HSR line consists of the Shanghai–Nanjing HSR line, the Nanjing–Hefei HSR line, the Hefei–Wuhan HSR line, the Wuhan (Hankou)–Yichang HSR line, the Yichang–Wanzhou HSR line, the Lichuan–Chongqing HSR line, the Chongqing–Suining HSR line, and the Suining–Chengdu HSR line.

High-speed trains on most of the route have an average speed of 200 to 250 km/h, except on the line from Yichang to Wanzhou (160 km/h), because of the curves in the track needed to get around the landforms in the area.

Until the line from Lichuan to Chongqing is in service you can travel from Shanghai to Yichang, from Yichang to Wanzhou, and from Chongqing to Chengdu by high-speed trains. Taking a Three Gorges Yangtze cruise between Chongqing and Yichang would be a nice way to break up a high speed journey if you have time to take in the scenery.

There are 18 stations on theShanghai–Yichangroute: Shanghai Hongqiao, Kunshan South, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Danyang, Zhenjiang, Nanjing South, Quanjiao, Hefei, Liuan, Jinzhai, Macheng North, Hankou(Wuhan), Tianmen South, Qianjiang, Jingzhou, and Yichang East.

Two high-speed trains travel between Shanghai and Yichang every day: D3072(stopping at all stations, and taking 8 hours and 15 minutes) and D3006 (stopping at 13 stations, and taking 7 hours and 48 minute).

Inonlytwo hours, you can travel from Chongqing to Chengdu. There are 17 high-speed train services on the route, at intervals of one to two hours.

Xuzhou–Lanzhou (Partly Operational)
Distance: 1,400 kilometers

Only one part of the route is in service: the line from Zhengzhou to Xi’an. The rest is under construction: Xuzhou–Zhengzhou (open date: December 2016), Xi’an–Baoji, and Baoji–Lanzhou (open date: 2017).

It provides 26 G train and D train services every day at intervals of one hour. You only need 2 hours to travel from Zhengzhou to Xi’an by the fastest non-stop train G97. The other G trains and D trains take 2½ to 3 hours.

Shanghai–Kunming (Partly Operational)
Distance: 2,080 kilometers
Design Speed: 350 km/h

The Shanghai–Kunming HSR line is partly operational from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The Hangzhou–Changsha line (open date: 2014) and Changsha–Kunming line (open date: 2017) are under construction. It will connect East China and Central China with Southwest China after its completion.

66 G train and D train services travel between Shanghai and Hangzhou every day at intervals of 10 minutes to one hour. The journey is 47 minutes by the fastest G trains: G7535 and G7509 have one stop at Jiaxing South, and G7555 has one stop at Haining West.

Regional Intercity HSR LinesRegional intercity HSR lines are short-distance, passenger-dedicated high-speed lines connecting cities in the same province, area, or regional. They are independent from the national high-speed rail grid, with an average speed of 200 to 250 km/h, sometimes up to 300km/h. Operational intercity HSR lines in China are listed below:

HSR Line Distance Design Speed Duration
Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway 115 350 33 minutes
Chengdu–Dujiangyan Intercity Railway 65 220 35 minutes
Shanghai–Nanjing Intercity Railway 301 350 1 hour and 35 minutes
Nanchang–Jiujiang Intercity Railway 131 250 1 hour
Hainan Eastern Ring Railway 308 250 1 hour and 34 minutes
Changchun–Jilin Intercity Railway 111 250 40 minutes
Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway 117 200 59 minutes
Nanjing–Hangzhou Intercity Railway 251 350 1 hour and 35 minutes

Maglev High Speed Rail
Shanghai's Maglev Train was the first magnetically levitated high-speed train line in operation the world. It is owned and operated by Shanghai's city government. All other high-speed trains in China are owned and operated by the China Railway Corporation.

Shanghai's Maglev Train, launched in 2004, has the maximum speed of 431 km/h. It runs between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai's Longyang Road Metro Station at intervals of 15 to 20 minutes. The journey is only about 8 minutes, and a one-way ticket is RMB 50.

Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen is FULLY operational。

Xuzhou–Lanzhou (Partly Operational) - Urumqi