High-speed Rail in China - History

History

State planning for China's high speed railway began in the early 1990s. The Ministry of Railways (MOR) submitted a proposal to build a high speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai to the National People's Congress in December 1990. At the time, the existing Beijing-Shanghai railway was already reaching capacity, and the proposal was jointly studied by the Science & Technology Commission, State Planning Commission, State Economic & Trade Commission, and the MOR. In December 1994, the State Council commissioned a feasibility study for the line. Policy planners debated the necessity and economic viability of high-speed rail service. Supporters argued that high-speed rail would boost future economic growth. Opponents noted that high-speed rail in other countries were expensive and mostly unprofitable. Overcrowding on existing rail lines, they said, could be solved by expanding capacity through higher speed and frequency of service. In 1995, Premier Li Peng announced that preparatory work on the Beijing Shanghai HSR would begin in the 9th Five Year Plan (1996–2000), but construction was not scheduled until the first decade of the 21st century.

In the middle of the 1990s, China's trains used to travel at a top speed of around 60 km/h (37 mph). To increase railway transportation speed and capacity, the Ministry of Railways (MOR) has continuously increased the speed of its commercial train service on existing lines. From 1997 to 2007, the speed of China's railways increased six times, boosting passenger train speed on 22,000 km (14,000 mi) of tracks to 120 km/h (75 mph), on 14,000 km (8,700 mi) of tracks to 160 km/h (99 mph), on 2,876 km (1,787 mi) of tracks to 200 km/h (124 mph) and on 846 km (526 mi) of tracks to 250 km/h (155 mph).

The MOR's initial design for the Jinghu high-speed line was completed and led to a suggestion report for state approval in June 1998. The construction plan finally been determined at 2004 beginning after five years' debate on whether to use rail track or the maglev technology.

On 7 January 2004, at a regular meeting of the State Council chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, the nation’s “medium-and-long term plan of railway network” was discussed and passed in principle. The plan comprised a high-speed railway network consisting of four north-south lines and four west-east lines, with the Beijing-Shanghai railway placed at the top.

When China first decided to develop high speed rail, the original idea was to research and develop domestic technology to reach a world standard. In 1998, China started the construction of its first high speed rail, the Qinhuangdao–Shenyang Passenger Dedicated Line, which was opened in 2003, with a designed speed of 200 km/h (124 mph), and several prototypes meant to reach 300 km/h (186 mph) were tested here, including “China Star”, “Pioneer” and latterly “Changbai Mountain”. However, the fastest operating speed achieved by “Changbai Mountain” was only 180 km/h (112 mph). “China Star” reached 321 km/h (199 mph) in 2003 during a test run but performed poorly in daily services.

By 2007, the top speed of Qinshen PDL was increased to 250 km/h (155 mph). On 19 April 2008, Hefei–Nanjing PDL opened, with a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). On 1 August 2008, the Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Line was opened, and its top speed reached 350 km/h (217 mph). New trainsets, CRH2C and CRH3C, with designed top operating speed 350 km/h (217 mph), were first put into commercial service. Currently the fastest CRH Service is on the Wuhan–Guangzhou line, opened on 26 December 2009. It travels 968 kilometres (601 mi) in 3 hours reaching top speeds of 350 kilometres per hour (217 mph) and averaging 310 kilometres per hour (190 mph).

On 26 October 2010, China opened its 15th high speed rail, the Shanghai–Hangzhou line, and the CRH380A trainset manufactured by CSR Sifang started regular service. the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway opened to the public in June 2011, The railway line is the first one in the world with designed top speed of 380 km/h (236 mph) in commercial service and uses the new CRH380 trainsets.

China has the world’s longest high-speed rail network with about 8,358 km (5,193 mi) of routes capable for at least 200 km/h (124 mph) running in service as of January 2011, including 2,197 km (1,365 mi) of rail lines with top speeds of 350 km/h (217 mph). According to the MOR's “Mid-to-Long Term Railway Network Plan (revised in 2008)”, the National High-Speed Rail Grid is composed of 8 high-speed rail corridors, 4 north-south corridors and 4 east-west corridors; together with some less important lines the total length will be about 12,000 km (7,456 mi).

In early 2011, it was stated that China had committed investment of CN¥709.1 billion (US$107.9 billion) in railway construction in 2010 and during 2011 would invest some CN¥700 billion (US$106 billion) in railway construction, start construction of 70 railway projects, including 15 high-speed rail projects. 4,715 kilometres (2,930 mi) of new high-speed railways would be opened, and by the end of 2011, China would have 13,073 kilometres (8,123 mi) of railways capable for 200+ km/h running, one year ahead of the original schedule.

According to China Securities Journal, China plans to invest $451 to $602 billion in its high-speed rail network between 2011 to 2015.

In April 2011, the Railway Minister Sheng Guangzu announced that, due to costs concern and increasing the margin of safety, the top speeds of all types of wheeled trains will be reduced to 300 km/h (186 mph), starting from 1 July 2011. However, an exception applies for some lines, including Beijing–Tianjin and Shanghai–Hangzhou, which will still run at up to 350 km/h (217 mph), according to China Railway Ministry.

On 23 July 2011, around 40 people died and 191 were injured in a train accident on a China’s high-speed line raising doubts about China’s high speed system safety. The accident occurred when a train traveling near Wenzhou lost power after it was struck by lightning. Signals also malfunctioned, causing another train to rear-end the stationary train.

Following the deadly crash, China suspended new railway project approvals and launch safety checks on existing equipment.