China Opens World's Longest High-Speed Rail Line

By Wolfgang Gruener
published

China officially launched the world's longest high-speed train connection.

The trains travel between Beijing and Guangzhou over a distance of 1,428 miles at speeds up to 186 MPH. The total travel time is about 8 hours, down from more than 20 hours before. In comparison, the distance compares to the track between New York and Key West. Amtrak covers a shorter distance between New York and Miami in about 30 hours.

China's high-speed rail system covers 5,809 miles of tracks today. The construction of the network has come at a high cost. China apparently has assumed debt of nearly $640 billion to create the network, which employed about 100,000 workers per line during the construction.

China plans additional lines which will include four East-West connections as well as four North-East connections by 2020.

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Wolfgang Gruener
51 Comments Comment from the forums
  • But can it run Crysis?
    Reply
  • ikyung
    "China apparently has assumed debt of nearly $640 billion to create the network"

    China : Okay, let's just push the debt to America. Huehue.
    Reply
  • 8 Hours on a train over a distance of 1,428 seems very competitive compared to traveling on a plane with the security hassle.
    Reply
  • lockhrt999
    ^and you're not even considering dirt cheap rates for train travel. (I'm assuming)
    Reply
  • Marco925
    1,428 miles at speeds up to 186 MPH

    What? you couldn't give us metric considering that you guys KNOW that a large chunk of us are canadian? Come on toms. No canadian contests and this, we want our own canadian site.
    Reply
  • wintermint
    iKyunG"China apparently has assumed debt of nearly $640 billion to create the network"China : Okay, let's just push the debt to America. Huehue.
    You do know that we owe China money right? Not good for any of us if China is in debt as well.
    Reply
  • sacre
    lol imperial.. "furlongs".. 3 of this in that, 12 of that in this..

    What a joke of a system.

    Oh and wow, hopefully its cheaper than a plane
    Reply
  • halcyon
    Neat. I want to visit China. Then I'll come back to Washington, DC and enjoy how lucky I am.
    Reply
  • alidan
    correct me if im wrong, but china hired a japanese firm to help plan and build it, fired them, stole the designs, than made it themselves, when it crashed, they buried it in a mass grave...

    i have to say with that track record i would never get in a moving train in china.
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    jupiter optimus maximus8 Hours on a train over a distance of 1,428 seems very competitive compared to traveling on a plane with the security hassle.Except when you blow up a train it is a lot more disruptive and takes a lot longer to repair than when a plane is taken out. When a plane goes down it is a terrible tragedy, but you simply redistribute the routes on other flights to acomodate for the change. When a train is blown sky high then the physical route is gone, and must be repaired before things can get moving again.

    Still, I would love to see more high speed rail here in the states (or any high speed rail). It can be a much more convenient way to travel (especially with kids), and in theory should cost less than flying as there are way less fuel and maintenance costs involved.

    However, here in the States I think it would make more sense to work with our current highway system. I read a few articles about a system where you could have a center 'lane' for electric cars where your car would dock to some sort of pulley system. Once docked you could sleep/work/watch a movie while your car is recharged, then when you get close to your destination you would be ejected from the system in the city you wanted to travel to, and you would be fresh and ready to go. Trains and other forms of mass transit simply do not fit the American lifestyle very well (for better or worse), and a system like this would make much more sense here.
    Reply