David Feng joined over 20 other people at the Shanghai Savage Club meeting in June 2024 in a talk about China and his High Speed railway network.
350 km/h: What it means for China
China is home to the world’s fastest trains — and the longest High Speed network. But it wasn’t always like this. In the late 1980s, although the railways had almost 50’000 km of tracks in operations, both airliners and long-distance buses gave it competition.
As part of this, the railways decided to speed up the entire network, in six rounds between 1997 and 2007. Average speeds came close to being doubled, meaning more capacity to run trains faster and carry more riders.
In particular, overseas technology was called in to help along. The most noted of these were the first-generation CRH Harmony Express trains. But also, trains from Sweden and even locomotives from Switzerland were called to help along on the rails of Greater China, including Hong Kong.
The high speed network started and grew in the 2000s, and especially more so in the 2010s and beyond, in spite of the horrific Wenzhou crash. The network continued to grow, with plans often revised and expanded.
By 2035, the general transport network is expected to feature 20+1 cross-border links, and the High Speed network alone is expected to reach 70’000 km in size. China continues to be an exciting market for rail development.
The talk was well-received, with a question and answer session that followed, including some operation, and even technical-conceptual questions being floated.
Quick facts:
- Talk delivered 07 June 2024 local time
- Waldorf Astoria on the Bund, Shanghai, China
- Spoken delivery in English (English + German slides), c. 45 minutes