World's Longest High-Speed Rail Line Opens In China

[News_Editor]

CRH380 Harmony bullet trains are seen at a high-speed train maintenance base in Wuhan. (Photo: Reuters)

BEIJING—China on Wednesday opened the world’s longest high-speed rail line that more than halves the time required to travel from the country’s capital in the north to Guangzhou, an economic hub in southern China.

The opening of the 2,298 km (1,428 mile)-line was commemorated by the 9 am departure of a train from Beijing for Guangzhou. Another train left Guangzhou for Beijing an hour later.

China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.

But it has in recent months faced high-profile problems: part of a line collapsed in central China after heavy rains in March, while a bullet train crash in the summer of 2011 killed 40 people. The former railway minister, who spearheaded the bullet train’s construction, and the ministry’s chief engineer, were detained in an unrelated corruption investigation months before the crash.

Trains on the latest high-speed line will initially run at 300 kph (186 mph) with a total travel time of about eight hours. Before, the fastest time between the two cities by train was more than 20 hours.

The line also makes stops in major cities along the way, including provincial capitals Shijiazhuang, Wuhan and Changsha.

More than 150 pairs of high-speed trains will run on the new line every day, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Ministry of Railways.

Railway is an essential part in China’s transportation system, and the government plans to build a grid of high-speed railways with four east-west lines and four north-south lines by 2020.

The opening of the new line brings the total distance covered by China’s high-speed railway system to more than 9,300 km (5,800 miles)—about half its 2015 target of 18,000 km.

Source: Irrawaddy.org

[Wombat6]

China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.

It's a pity that with all their resources etc. that they still installed squat toilets.....can you imagine trying to balance doing 300 KPH >>

[snooky]

China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.

It's a pity that with all their resources etc. that they still installed squat toilets.....can you imagine trying to balance doing 300 KPH >>

If true, it's probably because 90% of the Chinese have never seen a proper loo.

And build then that fast??? Just ride the Silom line and see how good the Chinese construction is - can't even stop the trains properly without trying to knock everyone over by making what you think might be a full stop, then releasing the brakes to move a few more feet, and then suddenly clamping them on again. Better wait until 2020 to ride those high speed trains, they might iron the kinks out of most of them by then.

Made in China -

[beb]

With the accidents, scandals and shoddy construction involved, I'm always surprised when people celebrate the Chinese high speed rail system. It just seems to be a lot of wishful thinking.

[mickyboy]

China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.

It's a pity that with all their resources etc. that they still installed squat toilets.....can you imagine trying to balance doing 300 KPH >>

now thats funny the thought craping at 186 kl a mile

[Scott]

I once took the train from Guanzhou to Beijing--many years ago (late 80's or early 90's). It was a very long ride and the squat toilet was an absolute disaster. The rocking of the train meant a lot of people did not quite hit the hole. I did not eat anything on the trip, because I was deathly afraid I was going to have to use the toilet. I figured nothing in; nothing out.

By the end of the trip, the toilet was so filthy it was very hard to urinate in the toilet without vomiting.

[chiangmaikelly]

Toliet room locates at both end of the train car. Toliet room on the high speed train is maintained and cleaned immediately after it is used.

http://www.beijingch...peed-train.html

[BookMan]

More than 150 pairs of high-speed trains will run on the new line every day, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Ministry of Railways

Phenomenal numbers.

Everything about China and its projects is big on scales that are hard to visualise

[Potosi]

Good news for the Chinese, travelling vast distances at a fraction of the price for a ticket for a plane, and 20 times the comfort. 2,300 km in 8 hours, the plane would take about 5 hours with the departure and arrival procedures. and is more prone to delays. You know what aircrafts are like, couple of minutes after departure you start to curse Lilienthal's name. Or before departure, in the queues at the airline counters, security, customs, immigration. Airlines don't tire to point out that planes are the safest means of transportation, what a nonsense. Bullet trains are. None of the 7 billion passengers aboard the Shinkansens ever died in an accident, that's way more people than boarded aircrafts in the history of aviation, and in a country with frequent earthquakes. Couple other nations had accidents, and one in Germany was severe, but all of them combined no comparison to a single jumbo falling from the sky.

[vijer]

Good news for the Chinese, travelling vast distances at a fraction of the price for a ticket for a plane, and 20 times the comfort. 2,300 km in 8 hours, the plane would take about 5 hours with the departure and arrival procedures. and is more prone to delays. You know what aircrafts are like, couple of minutes after departure you start to curse Lilienthal's name. Or before departure, in the queues at the airline counters, security, customs, immigration. Airlines don't tire to point out that planes are the safest means of transportation, what a nonsense. Bullet trains are. None of the 7 billion passengers aboard the Shinkansens ever died in an accident, that's way more people than boarded aircrafts in the history of aviation, and in a country with frequent earthquakes. Couple other nations had accidents, and one in Germany was severe, but all of them combined no comparison to a single jumbo falling from the sky.

True to an extent, but ... You have to wait for the train too, maybe not as long but you do have to wait. Trains have been targets of terrorist attacks too and it is just a matter of time before there are security screenings to board the trains.

Also, if the train was traveling at 300kph and derailed with 300 passengers on board it is possible all would be killed. According to Wikipedia, the train that crashed killing 40 and injuring 198 was rated for a max speed of 200kph so was probably going a lot slower than that.

I traveled on the high speed train from Guangzhou to someplace in China and it only ever hit 300kph for about 10 minutes, so 8 hours is a theoretical time , not necessarily a realistic time.

Just the same, I think the trains are a good idea. A lot better than more cars or more planes.

[chiangmaikelly]

Good news for the Chinese, travelling vast distances at a fraction of the price for a ticket for a plane, and 20 times the comfort. 2,300 km in 8 hours, the plane would take about 5 hours with the departure and arrival procedures. and is more prone to delays. You know what aircrafts are like, couple of minutes after departure you start to curse Lilienthal's name. Or before departure, in the queues at the airline counters, security, customs, immigration. Airlines don't tire to point out that planes are the safest means of transportation, what a nonsense. Bullet trains are. None of the 7 billion passengers aboard the Shinkansens ever died in an accident, that's way more people than boarded aircrafts in the history of aviation, and in a country with frequent earthquakes. Couple other nations had accidents, and one in Germany was severe, but all of them combined no comparison to a single jumbo falling from the sky.

True to an extent, but ... You have to wait for the train too, maybe not as long but you do have to wait. Trains have been targets of terrorist attacks too and it is just a matter of time before there are security screenings to board the trains.

Also, if the train was traveling at 300kph and derailed with 300 passengers on board it is possible all would be killed. According to Wikipedia, the train that crashed killing 40 and injuring 198 was rated for a max speed of 200kph so was probably going a lot slower than that.

I traveled on the high speed train from Guangzhou to someplace in China and it only ever hit 300kph for about 10 minutes, so 8 hours is a theoretical time , not necessarily a realistic time.

Just the same, I think the trains are a good idea. A lot better than more cars or more planes.

So what speed did it average?

[Sing_Sling]

China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.

It's a pity that with all their resources etc. that they still installed squat toilets.....can you imagine trying to balance doing 300 KPH >>

If true, it's probably because 90% of the Chinese have never seen a proper loo.

And build then that fast??? Just ride the Silom line and see how good the Chinese construction is - can't even stop the trains properly without trying to knock everyone over by making what you think might be a full stop, then releasing the brakes to move a few more feet, and then suddenly clamping them on again. Better wait until 2020 to ride those high speed trains, they might iron the kinks out of most of them by then.

Made in China -

Technology from Germany, Japan and France

Now, all they have to do is keep it well maintained

[Potosi]

True to an extent, but ... You have to wait for the train too, maybe not as long but you do have to wait. Trains have been targets of terrorist attacks too and it is just a matter of time before there are security screenings to board the trains.

Also, if the train was traveling at 300kph and derailed with 300 passengers on board it is possible all would be killed. According to Wikipedia, the train that crashed killing 40 and injuring 198 was rated for a max speed of 200kph so was probably going a lot slower than that.

I traveled on the high speed train from Guangzhou to someplace in China and it only ever hit 300kph for about 10 minutes, so 8 hours is a theoretical time , not necessarily a realistic time.

Just the same, I think the trains are a good idea. A lot better than more cars or more planes.

In the 1998 accident in Germany the train derailed at over 200 kph. 287 passengers and 6 crew, 99 of which were killed and 88 injured. The toll was so high because several coaches of the middle of the train slammed into a concrete bridge, which collapsed. Two coaches crushed by the bridge were reduced to 6" in height. In the coaches that cleared the bridge and rolled out on the embarkments were few victims.

Waiting for the train? Maybe when you have to change trains, like a stopover on a flight. But there aren't atrocities like a 15 hour stopover. Otherwise, they don't require to show up at least an hour before departure, or close the ticket counter 30 min to departure.

I took the bullet train from Frankfurt to Cologne many times. The route follows the Autobahn which has no speed limit there, but when you look out the window the cars seem to be parked. Comfy, roomy, one can go to the restaurant car, smoke, bring the dog along, and the absence of noise and movements of the train is just fabulous. 300kph for much of the travel time. That's enough to outcompete airtravel within this country, but larger ones will go way beyond that speed. The French run their TGV at up to 575 kph.

[vijer]

Good news for the Chinese, travelling vast distances at a fraction of the price for a ticket for a plane, and 20 times the comfort. 2,300 km in 8 hours, the plane would take about 5 hours with the departure and arrival procedures. and is more prone to delays. You know what aircrafts are like, couple of minutes after departure you start to curse Lilienthal's name. Or before departure, in the queues at the airline counters, security, customs, immigration. Airlines don't tire to point out that planes are the safest means of transportation, what a nonsense. Bullet trains are. None of the 7 billion passengers aboard the Shinkansens ever died in an accident, that's way more people than boarded aircrafts in the history of aviation, and in a country with frequent earthquakes. Couple other nations had accidents, and one in Germany was severe, but all of them combined no comparison to a single jumbo falling from the sky.

True to an extent, but ... You have to wait for the train too, maybe not as long but you do have to wait. Trains have been targets of terrorist attacks too and it is just a matter of time before there are security screenings to board the trains.

Also, if the train was traveling at 300kph and derailed with 300 passengers on board it is possible all would be killed. According to Wikipedia, the train that crashed killing 40 and injuring 198 was rated for a max speed of 200kph so was probably going a lot slower than that.

I traveled on the high speed train from Guangzhou to someplace in China and it only ever hit 300kph for about 10 minutes, so 8 hours is a theoretical time , not necessarily a realistic time.

Just the same, I think the trains are a good idea. A lot better than more cars or more planes.

So what speed did it average?

It averaged around 170kph

[chiangmaikelly]

Good news for the Chinese, travelling vast distances at a fraction of the price for a ticket for a plane, and 20 times the comfort. 2,300 km in 8 hours, the plane would take about 5 hours with the departure and arrival procedures. and is more prone to delays. You know what aircrafts are like, couple of minutes after departure you start to curse Lilienthal's name. Or before departure, in the queues at the airline counters, security, customs, immigration. Airlines don't tire to point out that planes are the safest means of transportation, what a nonsense. Bullet trains are. None of the 7 billion passengers aboard the Shinkansens ever died in an accident, that's way more people than boarded aircrafts in the history of aviation, and in a country with frequent earthquakes. Couple other nations had accidents, and one in Germany was severe, but all of them combined no comparison to a single jumbo falling from the sky.

True to an extent, but ... You have to wait for the train too, maybe not as long but you do have to wait. Trains have been targets of terrorist attacks too and it is just a matter of time before there are security screenings to board the trains.

Also, if the train was traveling at 300kph and derailed with 300 passengers on board it is possible all would be killed. According to Wikipedia, the train that crashed killing 40 and injuring 198 was rated for a max speed of 200kph so was probably going a lot slower than that.

I traveled on the high speed train from Guangzhou to someplace in China and it only ever hit 300kph for about 10 minutes, so 8 hours is a theoretical time , not necessarily a realistic time.

Just the same, I think the trains are a good idea. A lot better than more cars or more planes.

So what speed did it average?

It averaged around 170kph

That means people who live in Bangkok can work in auto factories in Rayong.