World's longest High Speed Train Route Opens in China

fulltimestudent

Two days ago (December 22, 2012) a high speed train with a media contingent left Beijing West Rail Station bound for Guangzhou, 2298km away. This is the latest section of China's high speed rail netweek and the longest high speed rail route in the world, with trains travelling at an average of 300 km/hour. The first official passenger train left yesterday (23rd).

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20829930

This route travels inland, crossing the Yangzi river at Wuhan. The southern section from Wuhan to Gaungzhou (near Hongkong) was put into operation several months ago.

This will be the second north-south route. The other route, runs from Beijing to Nanjing, then to Shanghai. At Shanghai you change to another high speed train running south to Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou and Xiamen. The last section (Xiamen to Shenzhen) will come into operation mid-2013.

In China, the first high-speed rail route came into operation in 2007 and has already expanded to approximately 13,000 km of track enabling you to travel from the far north of China (near the Russian border) down to the South. (not far from Vietnam). It is planned to have 23,000 km of track in operation by 2020.

More detail at www.globaltimes.cn/content/751691.shtml

designs

Someday we will have a highspeed train in the US someday.

wha happened?

yes we will, when all the other countries have a super high speed train

tootired2care

Pretty cool, it amazes me that we don't have this in the US. It seems that if America is going to continue to spend so much of its intellectual captital on crap like facebook, the rest of the world will continue to pass us up. Here is a great article why we got facebook instead of Mars colonies. Time to stop providing worlds security and re-prioritze what we're doing.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-we-got-facebook-and-not-mars-colonies-2012-12-21?link=home_carousel

Glander

We will get a HS rail line.

Maybe only 100 miles between Modesto and Fresno, but it will be the most expensive in the world and built with public money by the union/mafia consortium.

Never give up on American spirit.

Satanus

General motors, when sloan was pres of the company, destroyed budding american mass transit. It bought up the right of ways for the trains and then phased them out. Result, cars rule. Mass transit is kind of socialist, anyway, don't you think? So many people at a similar level.

Read the story at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy

S

Satanus

Fulltimestudent has pointed out the problem w going mass electric transit in the states; it's the cost of the land. It's mostly privately owned, and must be bought at market value. In china, the state owns the land.

S

Glander

?

Too much misinformation to address.

designs

The high speed trains in Europe

My parents dated when Southern California had the Electric Red Car Line. There is a mini version today in the Metro area.

jgnat

Rail lines take years of planning to acquire the land along the routes. Another hindrance perhaps is our four-year electoral cycle where the incumbent may start the (expensive) process, but a successor will take the credit. With this sort of lead time, perhaps Obama should have started a rail line instead of reforming health care.

Here's an interesting example for you. The city of Edmonton has a ring road around the entire city (as well as a transit line. It is not all about the car). Farm land around the city began being acquired many years ago, as part of a master plan. It now takes minutes to skirt the city, which probably takes twenty minutes off my travel time out of town.

Portland, Oregon had a similar proposal many years ago, and the city council decided to shelve the decision. By the time traffic was really snarled, they dusted off the proposal but found out the cost was prohibitive. The former farm land was now developed. They lost the opportunity.

World's longest High Speed Train Route Opens in China

Share this