EVERY workday, Wang Manman takes the high-speed train from the Chinese city of Tianjin to Beijing, with a journey that takes just around 20 minutes. During the morning rush hour, she has the flexibility to choose from over 10 trains.

“It is fast and very convenient, just like taking a subway ride,” Wang said.

In 2008, the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway, with a design speed of 350 km per hour, entered operation, unveiling a fast-expanding modern high-speed railway network.

China, originally a latecomer to modern transport, now has the world’s largest high-speed railway network. As of the end of November, the total operation mileage of China’s railway network exceeded 155,500 km, including 43,700 km of high-speed railways.

China’s rail development continues to speed ahead in 2023. One of the most notable additions to China’s vast high-speed rail network this year is the Fuzhou-Xiamen-Zhangzhou railway, the country’s fastest cross-sea high-speed rail, where trains reach a maximum speed of 350 km per hour along the west coast of the Taiwan Strait.

Starting operation Sept. 28, the 277-km railway slashes travel time between the cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen, in Fujian Province, to just under an hour.

The railway features a breathtaking sea view with 19.9 km of tracks built over the sea. It connects multiple city clusters and transforms the areas of Fuzhou and Xiamen into a one-hour living circle.

Rail in remote areas

China has mastered advanced technologies for building tracks, long-span bridges, and complex tunnels in challenging geological and climatic conditions, expanding high-speed rail to remote and ethnic minority areas to foster economic and social development.

In late November, a 238-km section of the Sichuan-Qinghai railway in western China became operational after 12 years of construction, providing high-speed train travel options for Maoxian, the largest county inhabited by the Qiang ethnic group.

In the same month, the railway connecting the captivating cities of Lijiang and Shangri-La in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province opened to traffic. The new line will boost tourism and industrial development, particularly benefiting Shangri-La in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

In August, the Guiyang-Nanning High-speed Railway started full operation, linking the capital cities of Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The railway, designed for a top speed of 350 km per hour, is the first of its kind in both Guizhou and Guangxi, known for their karst landscapes.

From January to November, a total of 3.56 billion railway passenger trips were made nationwide, more than double from the same period last year, the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway) said.

Global development

China’s high-speed railway has also gone global.

The latest example is the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway in Indonesia, officially launched in October. It is the first overseas high-speed railway project fully utilizing Chinese railway systems, technology, and industrial components.

With a design speed of 350 km per hour, the 142.3-km high-speed railway shortens the journey between Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, and Bandung, a famous tourist city. It has handled more than 1 million passenger trips.

(Xinhua)