How China Constructed 36,000 km of High-Speed Railways (in less than 12 Years)

total construction cost of China’s HSR network was 1 trillion dollars so far. Simply one fourth of the cost of Iraq war

When I was a child, it took 12 hours to go to Shanghai from the city I was in. When I was in college, it took 7 hours. Now it only takes 2.5 hours.

I once took the Chinese HSR from Beijing to Hong Kong a few years back. In 5-6 hours, you literally travel from Winter to Summer. And since it is a train ride and not a flight, you can see the scenery slowly progress from snow to greenery. The whole experience was just uncanny and mind-boggling!

For 12 years, our city, Toronto, is STILL upgrading a freaking train station!

A very well made video, no BS, no political bias, just facts.

I have travelled on the Chinese high speed network. It is simply mind blowing, including the stations. The system of waiting rooms and the way in which you board the train are incredibly efficient. Nothing in the western world comes close.

Now China is now connecting rail lines to Laos and Thailand. The Laos section will open at December 2021

How many high speed railway lines do you want? China: Yes

Can you imagine how much CO2 emission saved compare to flying due to this 36.000 km of hsr?

2004:china say they will bring moon soil to earth in 2020,everyone laughing and no one believe. 2020:they did it

I've read that the main cost saver of the Chinese rail is that they can push down prices on critical components. With such vast scale, if you order 1000 trains, even the most expensive components can be produced at an assembly line. The same applies to electrical systems and switches that would cost millions if you only build one train line.

The way from my hometown to working city last from 18hours by van in 2003, to 8hours by van on highway in 2005, to 5 hours by CRH train in 2008, to 3 hours high speed train in 2015. I think we should really appreciate the development of the country.

in economics we could see the benefit of Chinese railway construction in 2 ways: 1. Keynesian economics - Increase in government spending (building railways) would increase GDP, create jobs and a positive multiplier effect in the economy 2. Supply side - improve infrastructure, improve labor mobility, increase competitiveness and other positive externalities: cost savings from - Reduction in traffic, reduction in pollution, reduction in accidents on roads due to fewer cars, reduction of premature death due to air pollution, etc... only looking at the profitability of the railways is a business perspective, but in China high speed rail is not a business, it is a service for the people, and the government knows that the welfare gain outweighs the debt tremendously

Another great presentation!!!! Not so long ago the Western predicted that the high-speed railway in China was a white elephant project and doomed to failure because no one affords to purchase the tickets. LOL. Western politicians only thinking about short profits, while Chinese thinking about long term gains. That is why we will not see high-speed railway in the US.

China: builds 30,000 km in 12 years India: argues about building a 500 km line for 12 years

I used to live in the same building as the lead engineer of the Wuhan-Guanzhou high speed rail. A real good guy.

Goverment building infrastructure should not based on profibility.

Easy way to rough calculate the ticket price for the high-speed train： 0.5RMB or 0.076USD per km, like Beijing-Tianjin（first high-speed line in China）is 113km，ticket price is 55 RMB(8.4 USD). But the longer the distance, the lower the average price ，like Beijing-Shanghai is 1302km， ticket price is 550 RMB(84 USD), and Beijing-Guangzhou is 2118km, and the ticket is cheaper on average which is 860 RMB(131 USD), well all this price is for the 350km/h line, and secondary line price is even cheaper.

The information on this video is very accurate. This is rare unless it is from a railway fan.

I'm half-Chinese, and this is part of the reason I'd like to return to China when I retire (which is a long way off, so it should be even better a few decades down the line). Just imagine: just hop into a train and you can travel between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Tibet, Sichuan, Xinjiang etc. It'd be a terrible plan if you are still working (since everybody travels at the same time, during the few public holidays, so all places are absolutely swarmed), but it'd be so awesome during off-season.