China's New Bullet Trains SHOCKED American Engineers
The increasing speed of transportation has made the world smaller and smaller, made the communication between countries easier, and more importantly, made people's lives more convenient. Chinese engineers set a new world record for a high-speed speed of an incredible 320 km/hr.
Beijing, China (Urban Transport News): The State Council of China has announced plans to expand the country's high-speed bullet train network to 50,000km by 2025, up from 38,000km at the end of 2020, with the total network reaching 165,000km, an increase of 19,000km from 2020.
As of 2021, the country had more than 150,000 km (93,206 mi) of railways, the second longest network in the world. By the end of 2021, China had more than 40,000 kilometres (24,855 miles) of high-speed rail (HSR), the longest HSR network in the world.
How China’s high speed rail KILLED the short haul flight
China introduced its first high speed bullet train in 2008, just three years after it retired its last steam train.
Fast forward to 2022 and there are now a staggering 9,600 high speed rail lines transporting 2.2 billion passengers each year.
Today travelling long distances so rapidly has transformed how people commute and dramatically reduced the number of short haul flights taken each year. Elliot took a trip and successfully completed The Fully Charged Show's first ever train review!
China's Unstoppable Bullet Train Network | BILLIONS Dollar Railway
China plans expansion of high-speed railway equal to combined length of next 5 largest countries by network size by 2025. China will extend its high-speed rail network nearly 32 per cent by 2025, roughly equal to the combined length of the next five largest countries by network size, amid an emerging consensus that Beijing is again leaning on infrastructure investment to curb an economic slowdown.
The country also plans to widen use of its Beidou satellite navigation system at home and abroad, while tightening control of transport data, as technological self-reliance and national security have become government work priorities. China, which has the world’s largest high-speed railway network, will expand its length to 50,000km by 2025, 12,000km longer than the end of 2020, according to the new five-year transport plan issued on Tuesday by the State Council, the country’s cabinet.
As of 2021, the country had more than 150,000 km (93,206 mi) of railways, the second longest network in the world. By the end of 2021, China had more than 40,000 kilometres (24,855 miles) of high-speed rail (HSR), the longest HSR network in the world.
How China built the best high-speed rail ever
China built almost 40,000 kilometers of high-speed rails in just over a decade.
Meanwhile, dreams for a similar high-speed train systems in the EU and US have been consistently derailed. How did China do it? And at what cost?
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
The Unstoppable Growth of China's High-Speed Rail Network
TWO-THIRDS of the world’s entire high-speed rail network is now in China. In the 12 years since its first line opened, the country has dramatically out-built every other nation and now plans to double the size of its high speed network in just the next 15 years. Travel times have fallen, the country’s economy has boomed, cities have exploded - and the rest of the world has been left wondering how they’ll ever come close to building at such an insatiable pace.
There are high-speed rail networks around the world – but then there’s the network in China. It’s an insanely large web of track that’s helped ignite an economic powerhouse. In little over a decade, the country has built enough high speed lines to almost circle the globe and the system welcomed 1.7 billion passengers in 2019 alone.
To put that in context, the UK built a high-speed rail line between London and the Channel Tunnel in the 2000s (HS1) that’s equivalent to 0.2% of China’s current network. The new HS2 line was first proposed in 2009 and Phase 1 of it is due to complete in 2033. The US has one high-speed line in the north east but it’s arguably not actually high speed and California’s new line won’t open before 2029. To properly understand how this jaw-dropping network came to be and where it’s headed, you need to look at the story of modern China.
Chinese Maglev Train
Currently, there are three magnetic levitation lines in service in China: the Shanghai Maglev Line, Changsha Maglev Express Line, and Beijing Subway Line S1. The development of China’s maglev train began in 2016. In 2021, the Chinese newest maglev train debuted in Qingdao, which is known as the world's first high-speed maglev train capable of speeds of up to 620 km/h (385 mph).
What is a maglev train? Maglev train is a train driven by magnetic force. Because of the repulsive force and attractive force of magnets, the train is suspended in the air and does not touch the track when running, so it is also called a floating train or flying train. Without the friction between the train and track, the maximum speed of the maglev train can theoretically reach more than 600 km/h (372 mph). On July 20, 2021, China revealed a prototype for a new high-speed maglev train that can reach speeds of 620 kilometers (385 miles) per hour. It is considered the fastest train in the world, filling a critical middle space between high-speed trains and planes.
This prototype floating train in China will have a test trial in the vacuum pipeline in the future. Without friction resistance nor air resistance of traditional wheel-rail trains, it is expected to reach a maximum speed of more than 1,000 km/h (620 mph), surpassing the current civil aviation aircraft. According to the speed, the train can make the trip from Beijing to Shanghai in three and a half hours. That cuts about two hours from the travel time needed for a high-speed train to travel the same distance. Moreover, the absence of frictional resistance and air resistance means low noise. The maglev station can be set in the city center for the convenience of transportation. Developed by the state-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, this newest maglev train is the fastest mode of transportation within the journey of 1500 kilometers. It uses advanced magnetic levitation technology, which will be a safe and efficient new way of train travel. In addition, it provides advanced and comfortable interior facilities.
The Shanghai Maglev - 460 kph/286 mph (China)
The fast and the floating: China's is leading the world in the introduction of Maglev train services.
Connecting Shanghai's Pudong airport with Longyang Road station in the city center, it has a maximum commercial speed of 460 kph, completing the 30 kilometer journey in just seven and a half minutes. Based on German technology, the Maglev trains fly along an elevated track, the powerful magnets providing a super-smooth, friction-free ride.
Using experience gained from more than a decade of regular operation, China has now developed its own 600 kph (373 mph) Maglev trains and has ambitious plans for a network of Maglevs, including a line between Shanghai and Hangzhou.
Why The US Has No High-Speed Rail
China has the world’s fastest and largest high-speed rail network — more than 19,000 miles, the vast majority of which was built in the past decade.
Japan’s bullet trains can reach nearly 200 miles per hour and date to the 1960s. They have moved more than 9 billion people without a single passenger causality. casualty France began service of the high-speed TGV train in 1981 and the rest of Europe quickly followed.
But the U.S. has no true high-speed trains, aside from sections of Amtrak’s Acela line in the Northeast Corridor. The Acela can reach 150 mph for only 34 miles of its 457-mile span. Its average speed between New York and Boston is about 65 mph. California’s high-speed rail system is under construction, but whether it will ever get completed as intended is uncertain. Watch the video to see why the U.S. continues to fail with high-speed trains, and some companies that are trying to fix that.
China's High-Speed Railway HSR
Chinese HSR technology shines in Saudi Arabia's desert
The 450-kilometer-long Haramain High-Speed Railway (HSR) Project, which was built by a consortium that included the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) in Saudi Arabia in 2018, connected Islam's holiest city Mecca with its second holiest, Medina.
With design speeds of 360 km per hour, the Haramain HSR line is the fastest in the region, cutting travel time from four hours to under two hours. Its annual passenger volume exceeds 15 million, greatly relieving local traffic pressure and making the journey more comfortable.
It is not only the first double-track electrified high-speed railway in Saudi Arabia, but also the world's first desert high-speed railway to have Chinese companies involved in its construction. The high-speed railway has brought a new experience of traveling on land in Saudi Arabia. It has changed the appearance of the cities and boosted economic development in locations along the route.
China High-Speed Rail Network
China has the longest and most extensively used high-speed rail (HSR) network in the world, with a total length of 37,900 kilometers (24,498 miles) by the end of 2020, accounting for two-thirds of the world's total high-speed railway networks. At present, all provinces and regions are connected by national railways except Tibet and Macau. China’s high-speed network is consisted of eight rail corridors, including four verticals (north-south rail lines) and four horizontals (east – west rail lines). Most of them use the existing rail lines with the top speed of 200 – 250 km/h (120 – 160 mph). Some of them are dedicated high-speed rail lines with the maximum running speed of 300 – 350 km/h (190 – 220 mph).
China’s high-speed railways are roughly divided into three categories:
- High-speed railways with a designed speed of 300-380 km/h, including Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway, Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway and Guangzhou – Shenzhen - Hong Kong High-Speed Railway.
- High-speed railways with a designed speed of 200-250km/h, including Qinhuangdao - Shenyang Passenger Dedicated Line and Jinhua – Wenzhou High-Speed Railway.
- High-Speed Railways with a design speed of 200-250km/h which serve both passenger and freight transport, such as Wuhan – Yichang High-Speed Railway and Tianjin – Baoding High-Speed Railway.
Four verticals North – South High-Speed Rail Lines & Four East – West High-Speed Rail Lines are:
- Beijing – Shanghai High-Speed Railway
- Beijing – Hong Kong High-Speed Railway
- Beijing – Harbin High-Speed Railway
- Hangzhou – Fuzhou - Shenzhen High-Speed Railway (Coastal Corridor).
- Xuzhou – Zhengzhou - Lanzhou High-Speed Railway
- Shanghai – Kunming High-Speed Railway
- Qingdao – Taiyuan High-Speed Railway
- Shanghai – Chengdu High-Speed Railway
Flying without wings: The world's fastest trains
Fuxing fast: China's CR400 "Fuxing" trains run at a commercial maximum of 350 kph (217 mph) but have successfully reached 420 kph (260 mph) on test
As the world faces up to climate change, short-haul flights look increasingly unattractive to many travelers. The flygskam (flight shame) phenomenon that started in Scandinavia is already inspiring many travelers to reduce their reliance on airlines.
Until someone proves otherwise, high-speed rail is the most effective alternative to air travel for journeys of up to 1,100 kilometers (700 miles). Shuttling passengers between city centers at speeds of 290 kph (180 mph) or more, it offers a compelling combination of speed and convenience.
Rail's ability to move huge numbers of people quickly makes it far more efficient than unproven, low-capacity concepts such as Hyperloop. Since the 1980s, hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested in new high-speed, high-capacity railways across Europe and Asia, pioneered by Japan's Shinkansen and the Train a Grand Vitesse (TGV) in France.
In the last decade, China has become the undisputed world leader, building a 38,000-kilometer network of new railways reaching almost every corner of the country.
Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium and England are expanding the European network with other countries expected to follow by the 2030s. In 2018, Africa gained its first high-speed railway with the opening of the Al-Boraq line in Morocco and Egypt looks set to join the club before the end of the 2020s. Elsewhere in the world, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan have established high-speed routes and India, Thailand, Russia and the United States are among a growing group of nations committed to building new railways where trains will dash between major cities at speeds of more than 250 kph (155 mph).
But where can you travel on the world's fastest trains in 2022:
- Shanghai Maglev - 460 kph/286 mph (China)
- CR400 'Fuxing' -- 350 kph/217 mph (China)
- ICE3 -- 330 kph/205 mph (Germany)
- TGV -- 320 kph/198.5 mph (France)
- JR East E5 -- 320 kph/200 mph (Japan)
- 'Al Boraq' 320 kph/198.5 mph (Morocco)
- AVE S-103 -- 310 kph/193 mph (Spain)
- KTX 305 kph/190 mph (South Korea)
- Trenitalia ETR1000 -- 300 kph/186 mph (Italy)
- Haramain High Speed Railway -- 300 kph/186 mph (Saudi Arabia)
You Won’t Believe The Countries Replacing Planes With High-Speed Trains
Not only is travelling by train a more relaxing, scenic option compared to plane travel, it's more eco-friendly too – a recent report by the think tank Intergenerational Foundation suggested the UK could cut its aviation fuel emissions by a third if it banned short-haul flights in favour of rail routes. From iconic routes like Japan's bullet trains, which can travel at speeds of up to 225 miles per hour (360km/h), to TGV's swift services, here are the finest high-speed routes to get inspired by.
The inside track on fast trains around the world:
- Tokaido Shinkansen, Japan
- Cairo fast train, Egypt
- Frecciarossa, Italy
- Shanghai Maglev, China
- Fuxing Hao, China
- Haramain Railway, Saudi Arabia
- Eurostar e320, UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands
- The Thalys network, France, Belgium, the Netherlands & Germany
- Al Boraq, Morocco
- Vande Bharat Express, India
- HS2, England, UK
- Acela Express, USA
- AVE network, Spain
- Chuo Shinkansen, Japan
- TGV, France
- Laos-China Railway, Laos
- Jakarta to Bandung high-speed train, Indonesia
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