The railway in China has been and remains the No. 1 transport for moving between cities. Passenger railway the network in China is probably already the largest in the world and continues to grow and grow stronger. In principle, for a country with such a high population density, it would be difficult to come up with something else.
1. So, if you are traveling in China, you will run into Chinese railways one way or another. There will be a lot of trains at any station in the country in any direction. Even, it would seem, a small shabby town will definitely be connected with the center of the province by 10-12 trains per day, with Beijing - at least 2-3, well, and with other neighboring regional centers. 
2. At any Chinese station, life is in full swing almost around the clock. I remember when our train "Beijing - Moscow" stopped at the deaf but junction station Jinin, which is located in Inner Mongolia, then on the neighboring track during our 20-minute stop, four trains managed to stop and leave in our direction! More trains were moving towards them from other platforms. 
3. From almost any province, you can get to any without transfers by direct train. There are a lot of routes, some are stretched across the whole country, they go 2-3 days. Take, for example, the Shenzhen-Baotou train. :) Or from +25 to -25 .. A more understandable analogue for our man: "Adler-Vorkuta". 
4. As you can see, trains depart from large stations almost every few minutes. 
All Chinese trains are divided into several types, indicated by a letter in front of the train number.
K - passenger high-column trains.
Z - fast trains.
D - high-speed trains (up to 200 km/h).
G - high speed trains (up to 300 km/h).
C - high-speed trains for short distances (100-200 km).
5. There are also T trains (the middle between Z and K) and very few trains with a number without a letter. 
Let's consider each type in more detail.
6. Type Z and K trains are most similar to our long-distance sleeper trains. The gradation of wagons here is almost the same as ours. Prices for Z, T, K and letterless are the same. 
7. But in general, even such trains travel much faster than Russian ones. They accelerate to 130-140 km / h, usually keep 100-110, the average comes out a little less than 100. After that, our average 50-70 seems somehow quite sad ..
Coupe. Similar to our coupe. Several separate rooms with four shelves. There is no photo, because didn't drive like that.
8. Reserved seat. The Chinese reserved seat is somewhat different from ours. There are three shelves in each compartment: lower, middle and upper. Along the aisle are tables where you can sit and eat. 
9. It costs about 20 yuan per 100 km. (6.3 yuan = 1 dollar. 1 yuan is about 11-12 rubles now) 
10.
At the same time, the cost of different shelves differs by about 10%. The most expensive is the bottom, the cheapest is the top, the most average is the middle. 
11.
The conductor collects the ticket after boarding and issues a special card instead. With this card, you can go to the dining car (you need it to go back, the door to expensive cars is often closed). 
12. Sitting car. The most popular class among the people. Prices - 10-12 yuan per 100 km. 
13. Unlike Russia, where there are few seated cars and they are found only in individual trains, here they are usually about 40% of the total composition, and there are seated cars in each train. 
14. Previously, as many tickets were sold for seated cars as there were people who wanted to. Accordingly, those who did not have enough space were sold tickets without a seat, they rode standing, or lying in the aisles. Now, it seems, this practice has been stopped, although maybe I just didn’t come across such overloaded cars. 
15. In principle, there are almost always places in the seat. But it is really uncomfortable to go there for a long time, especially at night. The seats don't recline like they do on the train. The Chinese around fill up everything with things, food, sleep in the aisles and near the toilets, talk, husk seeds, eat their noodles, etc. The light is on all night. If you are lucky and there are no neighbors, you can relax on the triple seat, which everyone does if possible. But this doesn't always happen.
16. But on the other hand, sitting in a seat is fun, coloring. :) Sometimes blacks come across. 
17. In any car there are toilets and free boiling water. Well, everything is like ours. 
18.
19.
20. All wagons have two-alphabetic plates. Which is convenient for foreigners. There is no such thing on buses. 
21. It is very good that the signs are preserved on the cars, and not like now with Russian Railways, where it is generally impossible to see where the train is going. 
22. High-speed trains of type C. In fact, these are intercity electric trains, they are far from being found everywhere. For example, C trains run between Guangzhou and Zhuhai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Tianjin and Beijing. 
23. The cost is different everywhere. Guangzhou-Zhuhai (110 km) costs 70 yuan! There is no alternative. 
24. The maximum speed is slightly less than 200 km / h. 
25. High-speed trains type G. The coolest high-speed trains, reaching speeds up to 300 km / h. If you are a big fan of railway. You should definitely ride this train at least once. The cost is exorbitant - the cheapest class costs about 0.5 yuan per km. 
26. But what is it like to imagine that you can drive a thousand kilometers in just five hours! 
27. There are other high-speed trains that are not so expensive. This is type D. The rolling stock is the same, however top speed they develop only 200 km/h. The cost will already be 0.3-0.4 yuan per km (30-40 yuan per 100 km). 
28. Chinese "peregrine falcons" often concatenate in CME 
29. High-speed trains C, D and G run on separate tracks specially laid for high-speed traffic. As a rule, this pair of tracks is laid along the main line. Sometimes routes deviate slightly. Ordinary passenger and cargo do not call there. 
30. It seems incredible that it was possible just like that to take and lay thousands of new kilometers of tracks. However, this is how it is. Moreover, these high-speed routes are often laid along multi-kilometer flyovers and tunnels. Try to imagine a flyover several tens of kilometers long? And not through any water or other obstacles, but simply overpasses laid across ordinary terrain. This is in the order of things! 
31. Very often, high-speed trains C, D and G depart from individual stations. Usually in any city there is a special station for high-speed trains. In Beijing, for example, this is Beijing-South, in Dalian - Dalian-North, in Hangzhou - Hangzhou-North. If you buy a ticket for them, carefully check the exact departure station. Separate high-speed trains can depart from the main stations, as well as separate regular trains from the high-speed station. 
32. There are a lot of trains, so the stations are sometimes just gigantic! The train station in Guangzhou is more like an airport. 
33. Hangzhou is also not far behind. By the way, this is Hangzhoudong High Speed Train Station (Hangzhou North). 
34. In general, when buying a ticket, or looking at the timetable, always pay attention to where the train leaves from. In Beijing, for example, there are 4 railways. station, the train can leave from any. Beijing West (Beijingxizhan). 
35. Alas, most railways stations were built recently and are dull functional boxes. 
36. This is especially railway. stations for high-speed trains. 
37. But there are also beautiful stations. For example, in Qingdao 
38. 
39. Or railway Beijing Main Station.
40. Inside 
41. How does the whole process of traveling by train from point A to point B look like? Alas, here you can’t just buy a ticket here, go to the platform and board the train. Due to Chinese paranoid terrorismophobia, it is impossible to enter the station, and even more so the platform just to take pictures of trains, for example! Everything is clearly regulated. 
42. Arriving at the station, you first go through the screening procedure. Metal frames, conveyors. 
43. Then you go to the box office and buy a ticket. Cash registers always have a separate entrance. They won't let you into the station without a ticket. 
44. How to buy a ticket? I advise you to first look at the train schedule, prices and available places at www.travelchinaguide.com\china-trains, and then go to the ticket office, knowing the desired train number (you can write it out on a piece of paper). 
45. If the station is large, then the cashier will always find someone who speaks English. If not, it’s better to learn the types of cars just in case (ying wo is a sleeping couchette car, ying zo is a seated car). You name the destination, the cashier drives it in, and you are shown a list of available trains on the monitor, where you can select the one you need. 
46. To issue a ticket, you need a passport. It is always better to arrive well in advance, because there may be queues at the box office (or maybe not, you won’t guess here). 
47. Having bought a ticket, you go inside the station, where the waiting rooms are located. Again, lounges ALWAYS have a separate entrance. Here you have strict employees who check tickets, comparing them with the passport number ... 
48. 
49. And ... again frames and conveyors. Second time, please check. And what, you never know, someone gave you a bomb through the fence? 
50. In Uyguria, additional checks are also carried out at the entrance to the ticket office. So you will be checked three times on the way from the street to the train. To be fair, this is how the station squares are not everywhere blocked off. This is mainly found in the cities of the west of the country. 
51. Having passed this repeated control, you finally find yourself in the waiting room. There are shops and cafes here. 
52. You can pour yourself boiling water while waiting for the train. 
53. And even recharge your phone or laptop! 
54. But you can’t go out on the platform until you are allowed to! No no! 
55. The exit to the platforms is through these doors. Just like at the airport. 
56. Somewhere 15-20 minutes before departure, the exit opens and ticket employees release passengers onto the platform. 
57.
58. Sometimes there are barcode-reading turnstiles instead of employees.
And here we are on the platform, getting on the right train. The third time they check tickets already in it. The mouse won't jump! 
59. Conductors always stand like bayonets in front of their cars. Stretched out like soldiers. However, this is generally typical for China. 
60. However, in some high-speed trains, tickets are not checked when boarding. You can safely sit down and go in any car. 
61.
62. At intermediate stations, you can go for a walk, but not further than the platform. Where are you going from the submarine? 
63. Another problem is that parking lots are usually short. And there is no timetable in the car. If you didn’t take care of printing it out in advance, then you won’t know where you can take a long walk and where you can’t. 
64. However, I don’t know how possible it is to enter the city through the exit during a long stop, and then try to go back through the entrance. Try it, I wonder what will happen. 
65. Upon arrival, exiting passengers exit through the exit. Usually waiting rooms are located above the tracks, and passengers from them go down to the trains. And the exits are under the tracks in the underground passages. So incoming and outgoing streams do not intersect. 
At the exit, the final fourth ticket control. However, here they usually look at them rather negligently, you can put anything at them - they won’t notice. However, not always.
66. Trains have dining cars. There, of course, more expensive than in street eateries, but with a strong desire to eat. In high-speed trains, instead of dining cars, there are buffets.
How to ride a hare on Chinese trains?
70. Let's start with the fact that in principle you will not be able to get on the train without a ticket. Therefore, you still have to buy some kind of ticket. The only option is to buy a ticket to the nearest station and travel far. It is important to understand that you practically risk nothing. If you get caught at the destination station, in the worst case, you will be offered to pay the difference between your ticket and the ticket to that station. And most likely - they will simply let them out, having lost their minds, because. such cases are extremely rare and completely freelance. 
71. For me, riding a hare is better in high-speed trains. Firstly, checks in them are much more negligent than in ordinary ones. Secondly, if you really take risks, then for the sake of a large sum. And saving the cost of half the journey in a cheap seat is somehow not beautiful and makes little sense. Thirdly, in second-class and compartment cars, it will not work to get out later than your station. Here, the conductors give you a card instead of a ticket, and take it away in front of the arrival station. Unless, having taken the ticket from the conductor, you will go to the dining car and sit there for long hours. But dining cars tend to close. 
72. In high-speed trains, it also happens that conductors go and write down on a piece of paper who goes to which station at what place. However, once in a while it doesn’t happen - once in my memory on the G train they wrote it down, and another time they didn’t check the ticket on the train at all (it was train D), although I didn’t drive very long, about an hour. 
73. In any case, it is better to try to choose trains with fewer stops. Checks, as a rule, take place after landing. Well, if you are set on fire, then at least you will drive much more. If there are signs of strict control on the train, then after the end of the “paid” section, it is better to go to other cars, and best of all, to the buffet. I sat like this for several hours with a laptop, at the outlet, supposedly charging, in the very lair of conductors. Nobody thought to check my ticket. 
74. If suddenly you were asked to show a ticket, it is better not to show the real one. No need to irritate the conductors with the fact that you passed your station. Better pretend that you can't find him, and try to get off at the first station. Also at the exit control - you do not need to show a real ticket. It's better to always have some old one and show it off. In the case of a check, you can always pretend that you got the wrong one by mistake and go to another exit (as a rule, there are two of them at a major station). It is better to go out when there is a large crowd - at this moment the vigilance of the checking staff is blunted. 
75. And so, the Chinese piece of iron is developing at a rapid pace. As you know, several years ago a line was built to Lhasa, which became the highest mountain railway in the world, taking this title away from the Peruvian Lima-Huancayo line. I really wanted to ride, but such problems with the permit ... Better next time somehow. 
76. But in general, despite the fact that there are more railways, processes similar to those in Russia are taking place here: ordinary trains are gradually being replaced by high-speed ones. There are routes on which ordinary cheap trains cannot be traveled in principle: Guangzhou-Guilin, Shanghai-Qingdao, Guangzhou-Shenzhen (only C trains). This, by the way, was one of the reasons why I considered it justified to ride a hare (there is no cheap alternative). 
77. More interesting point. In spite of such a rapid development of the railway, despite the hordes of long-distance trains in all directions, in principle there are no suburban trains anywhere in China. 
If in Russia high-speed trains are rather a tribute to fashion and great-power show-offs to maintain reputation, then China uses the construction of high-speed railways as a strategic tool for creating a single economic space throughout Southeast Asia.
In the past two decades, China has rapidly developed its rail infrastructure, building faster and faster trains and reaching even the furthest corners of the country with new tracks.
Now there are about 76,000 high-speed railway lines in China, and this network is getting bigger and bigger every year. Every year, China builds more than 2,000 kilometers of high-speed rail lines. After creating an internal network of high-speed trains throughout China and launching a large-scale project - a high-speed line to Tibet, the Chinese are coming close to implementing a grandiose idea to connect all the states of the South-Eastern region of the Earth with high-speed railways: the Great China Railway.
In the next few decades, China wants to build a rail network covering many countries in Asia. Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore will be among the first countries where the Chinese will come to implement this idea. China is going to buy out the already existing in these countries railways, completely reconstruct them, build new ones (only about 40 thousand kilometers of highways) and deploy on their basis a single Asian high-speed railway network. Moreover, it will be necessary both for the transportation of passengers and for the transfer of goods. After all, all these countries have been the main producers of consumer goods in the world in recent decades.
The main task of the future Great Chinese Railway is the integration of the countries of Southeast Asia into a single economic and transport community, the largest market, the largest industrial and economic center of the world. In general, China is creating a new Chinese Empire, for which it is not at all necessary to conquer other countries, it is enough just to buy their infrastructure and integrate it into the infrastructure of the Celestial Empire. And whoever controls the infrastructure controls the modern world. This principle is well understood in the People's Republic of China.
The Chinese also have more grandiose plans: not only to connect all of East Asia with high-speed railways, but also to provide communication, with the help of high-speed railways, of course, with other world centers: Europe and North America.
The famous Orient Express can serve as an analogue to this project: the famous railway route - Paris-Istanbul, which appeared in 1883. Then the appearance of this line seemed something incredible and progressive. After all, in just 67 hours it was possible to get from the center of European Civilization to its outskirts. Now, more than a hundred years after these events, a much larger and more significant project is being developed - the construction of the Beijing-London railway.
According to Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who oversees China's railway projects, the construction of such a railway, if you set a goal, is possible in some ten years. And trains on the Beijing-London route will pass in two days - this is the same time as the Orient Express was on the way at the end of the 19th century. But now it would be more appropriate to call this train the Western Express, given that the initiative to create it comes from China.
Another project, even more ambitious, is the construction of a high-speed rail line from Beijing to Los Angeles, part of which will run in a tunnel under water. It may sound like a fantasy, but China is seriously considering a global infrastructure project that will connect Asia with North America via rail. The PRC press has been discussing this topic for more than a month, the Chinese government makes official statements about the desire to get down to business, and the best specialists countries calculate the route and budget of the future track.
It is assumed that the 13,000-kilometer railway will start in Beijing, pass through Vladivostok, the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, dive into a 200-kilometer tunnel under the Bering Strait, then again along the land through the whole of Alaska, the western coast of Canada with Vancouver, and then along United States of America to Los Angeles. High-speed trains will cover this distance in two days, which makes this railway a good alternative to airplanes for people who, for one reason or another, cannot fly, and especially for freight transcontinental transportation.
At the beginning of the construction of high-speed railways, the Chinese exported all the technology from the West, but quickly learned to produce everything they needed at home. Huge financial, scientific and technical reserves, concentrated by China for the implementation of its railway projects, are bearing fruit: the Chinese have come close to the most advanced frontiers in this area. One of the advanced scientific and technical developments that Chinese engineers are working on is the CRH-X Cobra train, which will be able to reach an average speed of more than 500 kilometers per hour.
Recently, China has already successfully tested a high-speed electric train. own production"CRH2-380A", which has developed a speed of 486 km / h. But this is only an intermediate stage - on the way to creating an advanced modification of the CRH-X train, which was called the Cobra for its shape, mobility and ability to bend.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption This type of transportation should be a middle link between expensive air transportation and cheap sea transportation.
China has started direct freight rail transport to Britain.
From the city of Yiwu in eastern China, the first train left, carrying a batch of clothes, bags and other consumer goods.
It is expected that in 18 days the train will cover a distance of 12 thousand kilometers and arrive in the London district of Barking.
On the way, the train will cross the territories of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France.
AT last years China has expanded its rail transportation to European countries as part of the multibillion-dollar state-run New Silk Road project.
The UK has become the 18th European country with which China has established direct rail links.
And London will be the 15th European capital to receive regular freight trains from China.
Priority - railways
As part of the economic development strategy, the Xi Jinping government has bet on railways. This type of cargo delivery, according to the Chinese authorities, should become a middle link between cheap, but slow delivery by sea and fast, but expensive air.
By June 2016, 1,881 trains arrived from China to Europe, while the cargo flow is also carried out in the opposite direction. 502 freight trains left Europe for China, they brought meat products from Germany, wine from France, and timber from Russia.
According to the China Railway Corporation, the new route will strengthen ties between China and Western Europe and improve Sino-British trade relations.
In 2015, Chinese exports totaled $2.27 trillion, down from $2.34 trillion in 2014, and economic growth over the same period was the lowest in 25 years.
Not surprisingly, the Chinese authorities have high hopes for the New Silk Road project, designed to promote trade and economic growth.
China's railways are the most convenient and popular mode of transport when there is a need for a long journey. The railway network covers virtually all provinces, with the exception of Macau, a special administrative region. For the first time this type of transportation appeared in China in.
Today, China's railway transport provides almost a quarter of all rail transportation around the world and makes a huge contribution to the economy of the Middle Kingdom. According to the length of the paths, the country is in 2nd place in the world (and this is confirmed by the map), second only to the United States. Railways reached a length of 103 thousand km by the end of 2013, half of which are electrified. According to experts, in 35 years their length will be almost three times greater.
Almost ten years ago (in 2006) the highest mountain railway line in Tibet was launched, located at an altitude of 5 thousand km above sea level. If we talk about the speed of transportation, then passenger trains here go at a pace of 200 km / h. But the map of China's railways is expanding, today the country is actively developing new routes and electrifying existing ones.
high-speed railways
High-speed railways in China are those with an average travel speed of 200 km/h or more between . This network includes: a high-speed road upgraded from conventional railway lines, new tracks built, and the world's first maglev line.
Now in the Middle Kingdom there is a huge excitement around high-speed rail construction. The state supports and encourages this mode of transport and it is expected that in 2015, the total length that the high-speed railway will reach will be 18 thousand km.
In April 2011, the Minister of Railways announced that China would reduce the speed of trains at a speed of 350 km/h to 300 km/h or even lower. After all, such roads also have their drawbacks. And the main one is rather high fares, which leads to the accumulation of debts. Accidents also occurred repeatedly, which required a speed limit for this transport. But despite all this, China is implementing modern technologies new level, and plans to create a train that will develop hitherto unprecedented speed of 500 km/h.
The steel artery of China and the scandals associated with it
A railroad in China has been embroiled in a corruption scandal. The Minister of Railway Transport of the People's Republic of China took bribes from the construction of roads. He was able to “heat up” 122 million dollars on this! In addition, this official was found to have relationships with 12 mistresses throughout China. He even faced the death penalty, but later the sentence was commuted to 10 years in prison.
Another ticklish moment is the fact that the Chinese make exact copies of foreign trains. The leading position in production is occupied by the Chinese Southern Carriage Works, which cooperates with the Japanese company Kawasaki. One of the construction of a high-speed train for running between Beijing and Shanghai ended in a scandal and litigation. Foreign experts carried out the construction of the line in China. After the Chinese found out the intricacies of these works, they fired the foreigners and completed everything on their own, but cheaper. from our blog.
Railways between Russia and China
The railway track has the ability to make the journey from Beijing to Moscow fast, comfortable, and at the same time short. Very soon there will be a message between Russia and China and the railway will help in this. Celestial, with might and main is engaged in the construction of a highway linking the two capitals, which will cost it almost 250 million dollars. The total length of the road is planned to be 7 thousand km, according to the map. Her path will pass through the territory of Kazakhstan, and the journey will take two days.
With this construction, China is developing high-speed technology on an international scale.
Railway stations in China
Railways in China amaze not only with speed, comfortable cars, but also with stations. They vary greatly throughout the country. There are highways that strike with infrastructure and dimensions, such as, for example, the Shanghai-Hangzhou complex. But, in the Middle Kingdom there are still enough buildings that have been standing in their places for a very long time, which is - "Anshan". At the Chinese railway station, entrance to the station is possible only with a ticket, and the point of departure and destination reads the machine (validator) from the ticket.
Trains come in different types, it depends on comfort and speed. The type can be understood by the letter on the facade of the locomotive. The best trains are marked with the letter “G”, they are high-speed (up to 300 km /), There will be no extra stops, air conditioners are installed in the cars and catches the net. The most dangerous trains are not marked with a letter at all. It is better for an unprepared tourist to stay away from such a train.
You can buy a train ticket using the China Railways website. But in order to purchase it online, you need a Chinese passport, so, most likely, a tourist who does not have acquaintances in China will be forced to contact the cashier.
Some more facts of China's railway transport
According to the most conservative estimates for 2006-2010, more than 150 billion dollars were spent on the construction of high-speed highways in China. Five years later, after the opening of high-speed routes, twice as many people were transported by rail transport per month than by planes. Now the railroad is in demand for 54 million people, this is the same number as America uses flights.
The first railway line from Shanghai to Wusong was a road created in 1876 by businessmen from England, and this happened 51 years later than the world's first steel artery was opened. From 1876 to 1911, during the reign of the Qin Dynasty, 9,000 km of railways were laid, among which was the first highway built by the people of China.
The general concept of building a railway connection in China almost a century ago was unproductive and of low quality. The thing is that the railways were laid mostly in coastal areas, and in the west they were almost absent. All sections of the track were managed by different organizations, which reduced the possibility of productive management of railway transport. Whether business our time - management centralized and electronic.
During the Cultural Revolution, there were significant interventions in the laying of railways, but the project was not completely abandoned. Lines were laid in many places, and a huge bridge was erected across the Yangtze River, whose name was Nanjing Zhicheng.
Having overcome many obstacles in the way of its construction, having undergone reconstruction, various transformations, and the laying of new lines, the PRC railways were able to rise to a new level. Over time, there has been an expansion of the scale of the railway road network. The structure of this mode of transport has been improved and optimized. The once difficult environment at the main checkpoints has been significantly improved. The ability of rail transport to adapt to the world of complex economic relations has changed radically.
Over the entire period of its existence, the railways of the Middle Kingdom experienced global speed improvements 6 times. Train traffic has become much faster. also in better side the densities in the train schedule have changed. Passenger and freight traffic has increased in recent years, and traffic and efficiency ratios have increased dramatically.
China Railways at local sites
It’s worth saying right away that the Chinese railway website cannot help an ordinary tourist with transportation, since you won’t be able to book a ticket to the Celestial Empire through it, and you won’t even understand right away how to look at the train schedule, because all the explanations are written in hieroglyphs. In order to accurately and without nerves make a reservation for a ticket, the best option would be to contact some local travel agency, and personally, and not on the website. So you can provide yourself with travel on Chinese railway lines.
Also, attempts to take a ticket from the Chinese railway machines, which are at all major stations, will not bring much success. Such terminals have an interface in English, from communication with it you can understand the train schedule or whether there are vacancies on some trains, and besides the ticket price. But you won’t get anything more from them - then you need to enter the data of the passport of a citizen of the Middle Kingdom, so it’s a dead end.
A little more about high-speed transport in China
On the locomotives of local trains there are Chinese characters that literally mean "harmony". The Chinese also believe that the number of the train affects its performance. Everything here is done correctly and according to Feng Shui. Many trains have stewardesses, just like on an airplane, serving drinks and food. Also, the cars are divided into categories - ordinary and business class, and in the cabin there is a panel with a speed indicator and video recording in some. The aspirations of the Chinese to be the first in super speeds on the railways may be hindered by the Japanese. By 2045, the latter are going to build a highway from Tokyo to Osaka. The calculations are such that a one-way trip will take just over an hour.
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Railways of China
The territory of China is vast, the population is large, the distribution of resources is uneven, and the economic development of the regions is unbalanced. Thus, the railway has long played a key role in China's transportation system, and due to the technical and economic features of the railway, the development of the railway industry has great importance in China's economic growth.
The first railway in China from Shanghai to Wusun was built in 1876 by English businessmen, and compared to the world's first official railway, it was built 51 years later. In 1881, the Qing Dynasty government allowed the construction of a 10 km railway from the Zitang Shanquan region to the Suige settlement, thereby laying the foundation for the construction of China's railways.
From 1876 to 1911, during the period of the Qing government, 9100 km of railways were built, among which was also the Jing Zhang railway (from Beijing to Zhangjia), which was the first railway built by the Chinese people. On December 2, 1912, Sun Yat-sen proposed a plan to build 160,000 kilometers of railways. This was the first concept proposal for the first rail network in China. From 1911 to 1949, a total of 17,100 km of railways were built in the Republic of China, and during the period of the Qing government, China already had 26,200 km of railways. However, due to devastating wars and other causes, 3,600 km of roads were destroyed, and at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China, only 22,600 km of railways remained on the Chinese mainland.
In Old China the construction of railways was distinguished not only by small volumes and poor quality, but also the general concept was wrong. Railways were built mainly in coastal areas; in the southwest and northwest, there were practically no railways. Each section of the railroad was managed by different organizations, which limited the ability to manage rail transport.
After the formation of the new China The Chinese People's Government established the Ministry of Railways, which began to manage the railways throughout the country. The Chinese People's Government organized a program construction works for the restoration of highways and bridges in order to meet the growing demand for transport every day.
During a three-year period of economic recovery (1949-1952) through-traffic railroad laying tasks in Chengdu-Chongqing, Tien-Lan were successively completed. Then they set about a new task for the construction of railways in Lanxin, Baocheng, Fengsha. Until 1958, 2994 km of old railways with a length of 1994 km were restored, 1337 km of additional railway lines and 14 railway centers were repaired. In connection with the completion of the bridge from Wuhan to the Yangtze, the road from Beijing to Guangzhou became completely through. The length of railways throughout the country (excluding corporate and local railway lines) increased to 26,708 km.
From 1958 to 1965 new railway lines Baolan, Lanxin, Lanqing, Ganyu, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guiyang, Jingcheng, Taiji were put into operation. The first branch of the Baocheng railway was completed - this is an electrified section of the railway 91 km from Baji to Fengzhou.
During the Cultural Revolution railway construction was subject to significant interference, but construction was not completely suspended. There were new railway lines in Guikun, Chengkong, Hunan (Guizhou), Jingyuan, Jiaozhi and other places, and the large Nanjing-Zhicheng Bridge was built across the Yangtze River. At the end of 1976, the total length of the national railway operating was 46,262 km, among which two-lane tracks accounted for 15.7% of the total length.
After proclaiming the path of reform and opening up the national economy began to develop rapidly, the volume of railway passenger and freight traffic increased significantly, as a result of which the capacity of the railways fell sharply. Railway construction in the 1980s focused primarily on the Sanxi coal region and improving the provision of seaports in rail transport, especially due to the possibility of transportation to the Kabozi region. At the same time, new railway lines Beijing-Qinhuangdao, Datong-Qinhuangdao, Yangshi, Xinhe, Anhui, Jiangxi, Qinghai-Tibet Railway (Hage section) were built. Railways were also built in Southern Xinjiang (Tuche segment). In addition, railway lines Jiangji, Tongpu, Deshi, Beijing-Guangzhou (Southern section, Huning) of the second line of railway lines were built. Sections of roads in Punsali, Shitai, Taiji, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guiyang, Kunming and other places have been electrified. By the end of 1990, the total length of railways was 53,378 km, of which 13,024 km were double-track, 6,941 km were electrified and 4,424 km were local railways.
During the eighth five-year period China's railway construction environment was basic and congested, in order to alleviate traffic stress, a well-known transit highway was built. Especially after Comrade Deng Xiaoping's speech during his tour of the southern part of the country, the national economy developed rapidly, which led to the escalation of railway traffic. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to the development of the railway, then issued a series of policy measures one after another, after which the railway entered a new period of development.
Between 1990 and 1996 the length of the national railway increased by 7129 km and reached a length of 64900 km, including joint venture railways 3043 km, local railways 5210 km, national railway double-track lines 18423 km, electrified railway lines 10082 km. Beijing-Kowloon, Baozhong, Lanxin double-track lines, Zhejiang, Jiangxi double-track lines, Daqin lines for 100 million tons of auxiliary work, Hoyue Railway. line, Guangzhou-Shenzhen Quasi-high-speed railway, Beijing West Railway Station were built and put into operation one by one, and the layout of the country's road network has been greatly improved, the transportation capacity has grown, all conditions have been created for the sustainable, rapid and healthy development of the national economy of China.
During the Eighth Five-Year Plan China's diesel locomotive production capacity was 600 vehicles, 300 electric locomotives, 3,100 passenger vehicles (including roads outside the factory with a capacity of 200 vehicles), 48,000 trucks (including a road outside the factory with a capacity of 9,000 vehicles).
On August 8, 1992, the State Council approved a policy for the joint construction of railways in the central and local parts of the country. The implementation of the policy of joint construction of railways has increased the activity in the construction of central and local railways, introduced reforms in the construction of railways and in the operation system, and also accelerated the pace of railway construction and promoted economic development region.
Until 1996 the joint construction of railways was completed throughout the country, the following lines were built: Sanmao, Zitong, Yangshe, Hejiu, Guangmeishan, Zhangquanxiao, Chengda, Xiyi, Beijiang and Xiauliu. On the this moment the construction of the Guanda, Jinwen, Shizhang, Huangnan, Ganji, Shuibo, Ohuang and other railway lines is underway.
In order to solve the problem of lack of funds for the construction of railways in March 1991, the State Council approved the establishment of a fund for the construction of railways, decided to double the degree of tax collection. At present, the total amount of the fund has reached 2.7 points per ton-kilometer, and more than 300 billion yuan of financial fund can be accumulated per year for the construction of the railway. Since April 1991, in Fujian, Sichuan, Shandong and other provinces, the state has approved a surcharge for the construction of the railway, which has increased the annual volume Money for the construction of the railway up to 600 million yuan.
In 1997 According to the plan, the National Railway transported up to 1.62 billion tons of cargo for the whole year, the freight turnover amounted to 1305 billion tons, the annual volume of passenger traffic amounted to 920 million people, the passenger turnover was 350 billion people per kilometer.
In 1997, the national railroad launched an acceleration strategy, strengthened passenger and freight marketing, and improved the railroad's competitiveness. Since April 1, with the introduction of a new timetable on the railway, the structure of passenger and freight trains. The speed of passenger trains has increased, special container trains. This has been widely accepted in the community. The method of buying a ticket using a computer has spread widely throughout. The quality of service on the railway has improved, the conditions for buying tickets have been softened.
Today, the management system of the Ministry of Railways unites three responsible divisions: the management of existing railway tracks, the administration of railway tracks and the division of the administration of railway branches. At present, the national railway includes 14 railway bureaus in Harbin, Shenyang, Beijing, Jinan, Shanghai, Nanchang, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Liuzhou, Kunming, Chengdu and Hohhot, Lanzhou, Urumqi, as well as 50 branches. Among them, in Nanchang, Hohhot, Liuzhou, a new system of direct management of the lower levels of the railway is being implemented. The railway transport enterprise made an attempt to change the management mechanism of the enterprise. In Guangzhou, the railway bureau realized the corporation attempt, and also set up the Dalian Railway Co.,Ltd, Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway Corporation, which successfully entered the Hong Kong and American markets.
Over the past 60 years, the Chenyu, Baocheng, Chengkun, Lanxin, Baolan, Jingjiu, Nankun and a dozen other railways have been built according to the layout of the national railway network in Beijing, the length of the western railway track has already amounted to 35% of the national one.
In 2008, the length of the railway reached 79,700 km, which was the third largest in the world and the first in Asia. Among them, the length of the double-track railway line was 29,000 km, which accounted for 36.2%. The length of electrified railways was 28,000 km, electrification reached 34.6%. The length of double-track and electrified railways was one of the first in Asia.
After undergoing reconstruction, large-scale transformation, construction of new lines, China's railways, despite the number and level of equipment, have risen to a new level. The scale of the railway network has expanded. The network structure has been optimized. The tense environment of the main throughput has been significantly reduced. The ability of rail transport to adapt to socio-economic development has fundamentally changed.
The country's railways have undergone large-scale speed increases six times. The speed of trains has increased markedly. Increased traffic density. China's heavy transport has developed. The capacity of the railway network has grown significantly. Passenger and freight traffic volumes increased significantly in subsequent years, and the transportation ratio and efficiency increased significantly.
(8) The course for the development of high-speed rail.
In January 2004, the Council's State Executive Meeting discussed and approved in principle the first-ever "China long-term rail network plan", which envisaged over 12,000 km of a dedicated network of "four vertical and four horizontal" fast passenger lines.
In the same year, China's Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway launched its first 160 km/h fast passenger train made in China. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway has become known as China's high-speed railway, a "test field" that is growing, maturing.
2004-2005 Qingdao Sifang, China CHP and Tangche, Canada's Bombardier, Japan's Kawasaki, France's Alstom and Germany's Siemens have adopted the technology and formed a group to develop and manufacture high-speed trains.
April 18, 2007 the national railway carried out for the sixth time new scheme trains moving at high speed. At a loaded distance of the highway, a speed of 200-250 kilometers per hour was achieved. At that time, this was the highest speed on the railway in the world. Along with this, a group of high-speed trains "Harmony" from that moment entered the life of ordinary citizens.
On February 26, 2008, the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Science and Technology signed a plan, jointly developed a new generation of high-speed trains with an operating speed of 380 km.
On August 1, 2008, China's first Beijing-Tianjin super-high-speed intercity rail line began operating. upper class with completely independent intellectual property rights.
On December 26, 2009, the first and in 2009 the world's longest high-speed railway Wuhan-Guangzhou, built according to one of the most complex projects, was opened and put into operation.
On February 6, 2010, the world's first Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed railway built in difficult areas was opened and put into operation, it reaches a speed of 350 kilometers per hour.
On July 1, 2010, the Shanghai-Nanjing intercity high-speed railway was opened and put into operation.
After years of unremitting efforts, high-speed railways have been put into operation in the Chinese mainland, with a total length of 6,920 km. Among them are 4,044 km of newly built super-high-speed railways, reaching speeds from 250 to 350 kilometers per hour, and 2,876 kilometers of existing high-speed railway lines, reaching speeds from 200 to 250 kilometers per hour. In terms of the length of high-speed rail, China ranked first in the world. Currently, more than 10 thousand km are under construction. high speed railroads.
At present, the overall condition of China's high-speed rail is very good in many respects. Firstly, high quality equipment and reliability. Both the main lines, communication signals, equipment, and other fixed devices or mobile devices have stable quality and work smoothly.
Secondly, high transport security and stability. The high-speed security system is improved every day, the excellent quality of the workforce is kept good performance safety, no passenger deaths and injuries.
Third, a good operating environment. High-speed rail has attracted the attention of most passengers, and the market demand has grown.
Currently, about 1,000 high-speed trains run on the national railway every day, with an average occupancy rate of 101.7%. High-speed railways for most tourists have created a new better life which won universal praise.
High-speed rail is one of the new modes of transportation in today's society, it is a clear superiority. The maximum speed is 350 km. In 2012, the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, called "ground flight", was put into operation, on which the train reaches a maximum speed of 380 km / h.
In December 2012, the world's longest high-speed railway opened, linking Beijing to Guangzhou. The length of the highway is 2300 km. Trains will run along it at an average speed of 300 km/h. Travel time - 8 hours.
Potentially, one train from the high-speed group can carry more than 1000 people, the train can depart every three minutes, the potential is strong. High-speed trains are adapted to natural environment, can go all day, basically they are not affected by rain, snow, fog. For the train, the "bus" model was taken, which allows the passenger to move in it in any direction. In energy saving and environmental protection, high-speed rail transport is an environmentally friendly transport, well adapted to energy saving requirements.
In the next few years, China's high-speed rail construction will enter its harvest season. In 2012, the length of the railway in China is more than 110,000 km, including new high-speed railways - 13,000 km.
Harbin-Dalian, Beijing-Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang-Wuhan, Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Shanghai-Hangzhou, Nanjing-Hangzhou, Hangzhou-Ningbo, Tianjin-Qinhuangdao, Bengbu~Hefei, Xiamen-Shenzhen, Hankou~Yichang will be open to traffic soon , Nanjing - Anqing and other high-speed railways and China's high-speed rail network will take on a predetermined scale.
Near the provincial capital, 1-2 hour traffic will be formed, in the provincial center and surrounding cities - from half an hour to 1 hour of traffic.
From Beijing, most of the provinces in the country can be reached in less than eight hours, for example, it will take one hour to reach Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and other cities, and two hours to Zhengzhou, Jinan, Shenyang, Taiyuan and others. Three hours to drive to Nanjing, Hefei, Changchun, Dalian, etc. Four hours to drive to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Harbin and other cities.
In addition, from Beijing to the provincial capitals of Haikou, Urumqi, Lhasa, Taipei can be reached in less than 8 hours. Until 2012, China's railways will significantly improve the situation with the "hard to get one ticket, hard to get one car" restrictions.
By 2020, the length of the railway in China will be more than 120,000 km. Among them, the new high-speed railway is more than 16,000 km, and new railways and existing high-speed railway lines will also be added. The railway high-speed passenger transport network in China will be more than 50,000 km, uniting all regional centers and cities with a population of over 500,000 people, which will make up more than 90% of the country's population. The goal will be achieved: "Population moves faster, goods disperse faster."
Transport in China
Rail transportation of goods from China