High speed trains pulling in Guangzhou South station at night...

High speed trains pulling in Guangzhou South station at night...

This month the high speed rail (HSR) travel time from Beijing to Guangzhou will be reduced to 7.5 hours. From June 20 onward, the distance of about 2.300 km (roughly equivalent to Stockholm - Barcelona) will be traveled at 350km/h (from previously 310km/h).

The route connects and halts at major cities such as #Shijiazhuang (capital #Hebei province), #Zhengzhou (capital #Henan province), #Wuhan (capital #Hubei province) and #Changsha (capital #Hunan province).

The HSR link between #Beijing and #Guangzhou is less than 10 years young and has serviced about 𝟭.𝟲 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. The route was extended to #Shenzhen and #Hongkong with the last 36-kilometre cross-border Shenzhen–Hong Kong section opened in September 2018.

Five daytime and five nighttime HSR trains are traveling straight down south from Beijing to Guangzhou and the same frequency traveling straight up north on a daily basis. Night trains are usually traveling at lower speed to pass the night hours with an average travel time of about 10 hours. Costs for a single journey second class is about EURO. 120.

Opting for a slow and cheaper journey ? Overnight ‘hard’ sleepers are available on ‘regular’ trains traveling about 22-29 hours at EURO. 60 (or a hard seat for EURO 30).

The HSR railway network in China comprises 𝟯𝟴,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗸𝗺 operating more than 𝟳,𝟰𝟬𝟬 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘆. Especially ‘relatively short’ distance tracks between major cities with integrated economies have a high frequency of HSR trains, for example about 90 HSR trains up and 90 down between Changsha and Wuhan every day and the same frequencies between #Chengdu and #Chongqing or between Changsha and Guangzhou. The #Shanghai - #Hangzhou route sees about 150 HSR trains a day.

Currently, 𝟵𝟮% 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝟱𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗦𝗥 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 which is is expected to 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝟱𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬𝗸𝗺 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱.

And then to imagine that today HSR network is ‘only’ about 30% of China’s total railway network, indicating the importance of trains, regular or HSR, for cross regional socio-economic integration in the diverse landscapes, climates, cultures and urban/business environments of this huge land.

#highspeedrail #highspeedtrain #HSR