CN: Past, present and future: The evolution of China's high-speed transport network

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CN: Past, present and future: The evolution of China's high-speed transport network

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Past, present and future: The evolution of China's high-speed transport network
China's ambition is to make high-speed rail the mode of choice for domestic long-distance travel, but these new railways have a much greater significance. Much like Japan's Shinkansen in the 1960s, they are a symbol of the country's economic power, rapid modernization, growing technological prowess and increasing prosperity.

For China's ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping, high-speed rail is also a powerful tool for social cohesion, political influence and the integration of disparate regions with distinct cultures into the mainstream.

[...]

That rapid growth has not been without its problems though; while centralized state funding, planning and approval allows China to avoid the endless legal wrangles that have bedeviled projects in Europe and the United States for decades, the flip side is that new lines pay little heed to existing communities along their route.

China's high-speed growing pains also contributed to the tragic Wenzhou collision in July 2011, when two trains collided on a viaduct and derailed, sending four coaches to the floor below, killing 40 passengers and injuring almost 200 others. Public confidence in high-speed rail was severely shaken by the accident, resulting in a blanket speed reduction and the suspension of construction work on new lines pending an official investigation. However, no major incidents have been reported in the decade since and passenger numbers have risen exponentially as the network has expanded.

[...]

Although its trains are now among the fastest in the world, China is also spending billions of dollars on maglev (magnetic levitation) technology, which will allow it to operate passenger services at up to 620 kph -- well beyond the current limits of steel wheels on steel rails.
Two lines are currently under construction totaling around 170 miles, Shanghai-Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and a 110-kilometer underground route linking Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the two biggest cities in the densely populated Pearl River Delta region. It is expected that the latter will eventually extend to Kowloon in the former British territory of Hong Kong.
These projects build on experience gained with the German-backed Shanghai Airport maglev line, which opened in 2003, and is currently the only line of its kind in public operation.
Taking a typically pragmatic approach to raising the speed of land transport, China sees maglev as a better option than the much hyped, but unproven Hyperloop for bridging the gap between high-speed rail and air on long-distance routes.


Source: CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html Accessed: 2022-02-12
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