The High Speed Rail Success

[Randy W]

This is an ongoing topic - click here for Most Recent Post

 

 

from the New York Times

 

Speedy Trains Transform China

Another impact: air travel. Train ridership has soared partly because China has set fares on high-speed rail lines at a little less than half of comparable airfares and then refrained from raising them. On routes that are four or five years old, prices have stayed the same as blue-collar wages have more than doubled. That has resulted in many workers, as well as business executives, switching to high-speed trains.

 

Airlines have largely halted service on routes of less than 300 miles when high-speed rail links open. They have reduced service on routes of 300 to 470 miles.

 

. . .

 

High-speed trains are not only allowing business managers from deep inside China to reach bigger markets. They are also prompting foreign executives to look deeper in China for suppliers as wages surge along the coast.

 

“We always used to have go down south to Guangzhou to meet with European clients, but now they come up to Changsha more often,” said Hwang Yin, a sales executive at the Changsha Qilu Import and Export Company.

 

The only drawback: “The high-speed trains are getting very crowded these days.”

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[ama537621]

Anyone know a good site for looking up the estimated dates of new high speed rail routes? I have found a few but they are very vague for new route starting dates. I am interested in the Shanghai-Shenzhen, and Shanghai-GUZ route.

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Anyone know a good site for looking up the estimated dates of new high speed rail routes? I have found a few but they are very vague for new route starting dates. I am interested in the Shanghai-Shenzhen, and Shanghai-GUZ route.

I always use the TravelChinaGuide to check schedules and pricing for China trains. I am not sure whether you can find rates and schedules yet for unfinished train routes.

 

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Also, the preliminary information about China high-speed rail is not likely to be valid. China has a habit of changing everything until everything is unveiled.

[Randy W]

http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/projects/images/xrl_scope_map02.jpg

 

no dates, though

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

 

 

no dates, though

 

Right, quite vague, no specifics. Maybe they will finish with a transcontinental photo op reminiscent of the first USA transcontinental railroad, built of course by Chinese labor.

[Randy W]

. . . and, soon, coming to the U.S. From the L.A. Times

 

 

A high-speed rail from L.A. to Las Vegas? China says it's partnering with U.S. to build

Officials for XpressWest, which has been unable to secure adequate private investors in the United States or a $5.5-billion federal loan, announced that it had formed a partnership with China Railway International USA, a consortium led by China Railway, the national railroad of the People’s Republic of China.

 

Details about the joint venture, the proposed project and its financing were unavailable Thursday, except China Railway International stated that it would provide initial capital of $100 million. Project officials say they are confident construction could begin as early as September 2016.

 

XpressWest, a private company formerly called DesertXpress, has been talking about its high-speed rail project since at least 2007. Plans have called for a 185-mile route that would run adjacent to heavily-traveled Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to Victorville, 85 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

 

Chinese officials now describe the project as a 230-mile route with an additional stop in Palmdale and eventual service throughout the Los Angeles area using some of the same track that would be used by the publicly backed California high-speed rail project.

 

Federal railroad records indicate that XpressWest has already secured approvals and permits from a number of federal agencies for the 185-mile route. Additional permits, approvals and environmental analysis would be needed for the 230-mile proposal.

 

. . .

 

XpressWest materials state that although the project has adopted an “assemble and manufacture in America” plan, the manufacturing base for high-speed trains is “not yet mature.”

 

Therefore, venture backers indicated they intended to partner with foreign suppliers for the estimated 42 train sets they anticipate needing, with assembly being performed in southern Nevada.

[Randy W]

in the People's Daily - apparently, not open for business just yet

 

Charming scenery along Nanning-Kunming High-Speed Railway

 

Construction of 852-meter-long Nanpan River Railway Bridge has been completed in Mile city, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The two sections of the bridge were successfully joined together on Jan. 16, 2016, laying a solid foundation for the opening of Nanning-Kunming High-Speed Railway.

The railway has 26 stations, including Nanning city, Jinji village, Long'an county, Baise city, Mile city and Kunming city.

 

 

 

http://en.people.cn/NMediaFile/2016/0203/FOREIGN201602031317000253164442557.jpg

[Randy W]

We can only go with "Made in the U.S.A."

 

 

Only problem is - it ISN'T - in the SCMP

 

US firm ends links with Chinese company helping it build high-speed rail link from Las Vegas to Los Angeles

 

 

 

 

The 370km link was announced just before President Xi Jinping made his state visit to the United States last September. At the time, officials hailed the joint venture as a landmark in China’s efforts to export its high-speed railway technology to advanced economies.

 

. . .

 

The project faced challenges because of a US requirement that high-speed trains must be manufactured domestically, the statement said, adding the requirement had become a “fundamental barrier” to financing such deals.

 

 

. . . and the L.A. Times

 

China will not build L.A.-to-Vegas rail line — U.S. company calls the deal off

 

“As everyone knows, there are no high-speed trains manufactured in the United States,” the company said in a statement. “This inflexible requirement has been a fundamental barrier to financing high-speed rail in our country. For the past 10 years, we have patiently waited for policymakers to recognize high-speed rail in the United States is a new enterprise and that allowing trains from countries with decades of safe high-speed rail experience is needed to connect the Southwest region and start this new industry.”

 

[Randy W]

This sounds nice, but for the most part, the existing routes don't need over-night service. Even going from Nanning to Beijing, the train leaves in the morning, and arrives late in the evening. The trains all arrive at their destinations before a sleeper would be needed.

 

These features, though, will of course allow expansion to new overnight routes, including internationally.

 

China to introduce new high-speed trains with fold-out beds and wifi!

 

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/comfy_trains12.jpg

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear as though the CRH5E will be coming through Shanghai. It's planned to run from Harbin to Wuhan in central China and Shenzhen in the far south, traveling at at a brisk 250 km/hr. There's no word on ticket prices yet.

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

China’s Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail operator is more profitable than Apple, plans stock market listing

• Plan for initial public offering shows company that runs 1,300km section of line between the two key cities is more profitable than Apple
• Net profit hits 9.5 billion yuan in first nine months of 2019, representing a margin of 38 per cent

 

According to the filing, published by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Friday, Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway, which operates the 1,300km (807 mile) line, booked a net profit of 9.5 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) in the first nine months of the year.

That represents a margin of about 38 per cent on its revenue for the period and makes it more profitable than both Apple which makes the iPhone, and Kweichow Moutai, which makes China’s most famous brand of baijiu, the world’s most popular spirit.