Rail transport in the People's Republic of China

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This article is on the rail transport in China (including the Qing Dynasty (before 1912) and the Republic of China (1912 to 1949) eras, and in modern times under the People's Republic of China (1949 onwards)). See also rail transport in Hong Kong (1842 onwards) and rail transport in Taiwan (1895 onwards).

The People's Republic of China has one of the largest rail transport networks in the world. With more than 76,000 km of tracks only the United States and Russia have larger networks.

[edit] History

Main article: History of rail transport in China

[edit] Qing Dynasty era (1876-1911)

The first train Woosung Road appeared in China in 1876, but was soon demolished by the Qing government. After that, very limited tracks were laid. It was not until 1895, after Qing's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, did railway begin its fast development in China. The empire capital Beijing was designed as the center of the Chinese railway network. Several lines spoked out from Beijing. Three main lines are Jinghan Railway, Jingfeng Railway, and Jinpu Railway, which are still the most busiest railways in China even today. By 1911, there were around 9000km rails in China. However, many railways were designed, constructed, or even owned by foreign companies. The first indigenously designed and constructed railway by Chinese is the Jingzhang railway built during 1905-1909, which was a difficult job due to the rugged mountains. The chief engineer of this railway was Zhan Tianyou, who is called the Father of China's Railway.

The statue of Zhan Tianyou, in Zhangjiakou south railway station.

[edit] Republic of China era (1912-1949)

The development of railway network in most of China was slowed down in the Republic of China era, due to the repeated civil wars and the Japanese invasion. One exception is in Northeastern China, or Manchuria. This region was first controlled by the Fengtian warlord as its base. Several railway lines was built during 1912-1931. After 1931, Japan occupied Manchuria region and expanded the railway network of Manchuria substantially. In 1945, just after the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese mainland claimed 27,000 km of rail, nearly half of which, 13,000km, located in Manchuria. ^[1]

[edit] People's Republic of China era (after 1949)

During 1950s to 1970s, Chinese government invested heavily in railway projects. Many important lines, especially the lines in the vast western China, were built in this period. A 1900km railway was built from Lanzhou to Urumqi between 1952-1962. In southwestern China, where the mountains is rugged and geology is complicated, several mountain railways were constructed, such as Baocheng railway built in 1950s and Chengkun railway in 1970s. The railway to Xizang or Tibet, however, was the most difficult to build due to the high altitude and terrain. By 1984, the section between Xining and Golmud was completed. It was not until 2006, the whole Qingzang railway finished, linking Lhasa with rest of China. Since then, every province-level entity in the People's Republic of China has a railway network.

Before 1980s, due to the low labor cost, ease to manufacture, and cheap coal price, steam locomotives dominated in the Chinese railway. During 1980s-1990s, diesel and electric locomotives gradually replaced the steam engines on the main lines. On some provincial rails, however, steam locomotives didn't retire until the 21st century. In December, 2005, the world last regular revenue steam train finished its journey on the Jitong railway, marking the end of steam era. Nevertheless, there are still some steam locomotives used in the industrial railways in China.

[edit] Current

Mainland China is being served by about twenty principal domestic railway routes with a total length of 76,000km. It has been reported that the Ministry of Railways of China plans to add another 17,000km of track by 2010. It is the busiest railway network in the world, moving 24% of global rail traffic with just 6% of the world's tracks. ^[2]

Total: 76,000 km^[3] (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)
Standard gauge: 68,000 km 1.435-m gauge (18,668 km electrified; 20,250 km double track)
Narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (1998 est.)
Dual gauge: 22,640 km (not included in total) (2003)

[edit] Main lines

Main article: List of railways in China

• Jingha Railway
• Jinghu Railway
• Jingguang Railway
• Jingjiu Railway
• Jingbao Railway
• Longhai Railway
• Lanxin Railway
• Qingzang Railway

[edit] Map of the China's railway Network

The railway network of China. (Many recently completed railroads, for example, Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, are not yet included on this map.)

[edit] Train speed accelerations

This article or section contains information about a planned or expected public transportation infrastructure. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available.

China has implemented train speed accelerations five times in April 1997, October 1998, October 2000, November 2001, and April 2004, respectively. In the first train speed acceleration in April 1997, the top speeds of passenger trains on some main lines were increased to 140km/h. During the following train speed accelerations, top speeds of more lines were further increased to 160km/h and on the Guangshen railway, 200km/h. The sixth is scheduled on April 18th, 2007 and the top speeds will reach 200~250km/h on main lines such as Jinghu Railway, Jingha Railway, and Jingguang Railway.

[edit] Locomotives and rolling stocks

See also: List of electric locomotives in China.

• DF4
• SS9

[edit] Passenger transport

Main article: Passenger rail transport in China

See also: image of a train approaching Beijing.

[edit] Railway Chunyun

Main article: Chunyun

Every year before and after Chinese New Year, Chinese railway enters into the Chunyun period - a high load traffic due to the holiday. Since railway transport is the cheapest method for long distance travellers in China, railway transportation play the most important role during the Chunyun period. For example, during the 40 days of 2007 Chunyun period, it is estimated that 156 million passengers would take trains. In other words, 3.9 million passengers per day. However, the average daily capacity of the Chinese railway system is 2.4 million. To make the situation even worse, traffic is highly imbalanced: before the Chinese New Year, passengers mainly travel from eastern provinces to western provinces. After the holiday, traffic reverses. Although hundreds of temporary trains was operated, train tickects are still in short. Trains are very crowded during this period, sometimes a 118 seats passenger car may accomodate more than 200 people.

[edit] Cross-border services

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Passenger train services are available to destinations in Kazakhstan, North Korea, Mongolia, Russia and Vietnam, as well as Hong Kong, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

[edit] Link to Hong Kong

Train services to Hong Kong terminate at the Hung Hom Station in Kowloon. Within Hong Kong the cross-border services use the tracks of the KCR East Rail. There are three through-train routes, Beijing line (to/from Beijing), Shanghai line (to/from Shanghai) and Guangdong line (to/from Zhaoqing and Guangzhou East).

[edit] Proposed link to Macau

Macau has no railway. Extending the Guangzhu Railway to Cotai through Hengqin Island was proposed. ^[4]

[edit] High-speed rail

Main article: High-speed rail in China

[edit] Conventional railways

200km/h railways

• Guangshen railway
• Qinshen Passenger Railway

Rolling stocks

• China Railway High-speed(CRH): CRH1, CRH2, CRH3, CRH5
• X 2000
• Blue Arrow
• China Star

High-speed rails Planned or under construction

• Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail
• Beijing-Shanghai Express Railway

[edit] Maglevs

• Shanghai Maglev Train
• Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Train

[edit] See also

• List of railways in China
• Transportation in China
• Qingzang railway
• Beijing railway station
• Beijing west railway station
• South Manchuria Railway
• Chinese Eastern Railway

[edit] References

1. ^ Manchurian railway development [1]
2. ^ Fast Train to China [2]
3. ^ PRC Ministry of Railways statistics for 2006 available in Chinese give the figure at 76,000. English language statistics for 2004 state 74,200. Both exclude any ROC-controlled areas (e.g. Taiwan) and include cross-border services to Hong Kong
4. ^ Macau - Meeting Point: a Legacy for the Future (1999), published by the Comissão Territorial de Macau para es Comemorações does Descobrimentos Portugueses, p.6.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Railways in China

• (Chinese) Ministry of Railways
• (English) Chinese Railways
• (English) Shanghai Maglev Transrapid