High-speed train travel is set to take over in China. New rail lines linking major cities are providing faster and faster routes for Chinese travelers.
China has committed almost $300 billion over the next decade to build the world’s most expansive network of high-speed trains, according to National Public Radio.
The world’s fastest train covers the the 664-mile Guangzhou-Wuhan trip in just three hours — at an average speed of 217 mph.
From Mark’s China Blog, critique and comments from China:
“This high-speed train development is great. Chinese trains are so crowded now. Adding high-speed trains onto the already running trains is going to make train travel much easier throughout the country. Such development will also decrease dependency on air travel.”
Critics argue that China is spending vast amounts of resources on public works projects accessible only to the wealthy, saying that money would be better spent increasing social services for the general public.
Recently, Hong Kong lawmakers agreed to connect the city to China’s high-speed rail system. The project was originally delayed over concerns that homes would be destroyed in rural areas.
View the map of current and planned high-speed rail in East Asia:
Wikimedia Commons’ map of Asia high-speed rail |
In an op-ed Thomas Friedman quotes the New York Times Hong Kong bureau chief, Keith Bradsher:
“China has nearly finished the construction of a high-speed rail route from Beijing to Shanghai at a cost of $23.5 billion. Trains will cover the 700-mile route in just five hours, compared with 12 hours today. By comparison, Amtrak trains require at least 18 hours to travel a similar distance from New York to Chicago.”
There is currently only one high-speed rail line in the U.S. (in blue below) — the Northeast Corridor’s Acela express train from Boston to Washington, D.C.
In comparison to China, the U.S. has only committed $13 billion over the next five years for high-speed rail construction. There are ambitious plans for 11 different high-speed lines (in red below):
Map by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration |
Ed Perkins, travel writer at Smarter Travel, compares European and U.S. rail travel:
“The United States forms committees and does studies; Europe and Asia build and operate. That’s been the recent picture for high-speed rail, and it continued through 2009. European railroads completed some important links in 2009, and several Asian countries are operating long stretches of 160-mph-plus systems.”
Yonah Freemark of The Transport Politic explains the recent expansion of the European high-speed rail system:
“Truly high-speed train travel, once confined to a few isolated corridors in France, Italy, and Germany, is rapidly expanding across Europe. With the opening [last month] of five new track segments to operations at more than 250 km/h (155 mph), the trend continues.”
View the map of high-speed rail lines in Europe:
Wikimedia Commons’ map of Europe high-speed rail |
02/26/2010 :: 08:21:00 PM
kerry Masterson Says:
China stole the technology for high speed rail from France and France is angry about it. Lets stop all this crying and whining about the rise and China and the fall of the US. The rise of China will in time be moderated
by economic forces. The sky is not falling.