High-speed (200-380 km/h) railway network in China reached last year more then 50000km, 2/3 of the world total high-speed railways, and keeps on the target of 70000 of the so called 8+8 grid covering all the Nation’s major cities, to be implemented before 2030.Today 9 billion of passengers travels on a total of 14 billion are on high-speed dedicated network.The choice of developing a high-speed network has been taken in early 1990s, after a visit of Deng Xiaoping in 1978 to Japan, looking at Shinkansen wonderful performances on Tokio-Osaka line. Historically interesting that the so called Asia Express, a luxury passenger train was operated by Japan from 1934 to 1943 in occupied Manchuria, steam powered it was reaching 130km/h of speed. Not so immediate the realisation, because a long discussion has been hold in 1996-2000 on the economic convenience to build “a high-speed dream”, with a lot of attention on the poor results obtained in Japan and France in economic terms for the operating companies. Two basic policies were confronted: expanding the existing network increasing medium speed or realising a new one passengers dedicated. A big debate has been also promoted about tracking technology comparing wheels with Maglev magnetic system, and about the technology of the trains, the first one being a Sweden one to be experimented. Shanghai bought the German Maglev technology to cover 30km between the city and the airport in Pudong, and this remain also today the most advanced application with 430km/h of speed. Politically it was decided to accelerate the choice and in 2007 the line Bejng-Shanghai has been completed, reducing from 33hrs to less then 10 the time of transferring.
The first years 2000 were dedicated to import a large set of trains from any country having high-speed experience, after that the most natural choice in favour of Shinkansen was refused due to Japan-China difficult relationships, because Japanese don’t recognise the crimes and damages inflicted in the war and the two cultures are often conflicting also in the business environment. So China tested and experimented Alshtom products, included the Italian “pendolino” just acquired from France, Bombardier and Siemens trains, trying to establish contracts of technology transfer and common research for improvement. Later a Kawasaki coordinated Japanese consortium was also allowed. About 40/50 trains for each of these suppliers were bought and tested on the lines in construction, overcoming rapidly the previous performances around 200km/h and pushing them to 350 and also 400km/h. In previous years the mean speed of trains in China was around 50km/h, so you can appreciate the enormous progress in engineering lines, producing trains, constructing more then 300 stations.
The second generation of trains were builded in China and the most cooperating European supplier was Siemens. All the train should adopt a mean speed of 350km/h and consequently all the old tracks were abandoned in favour of a complete new design of a network dedicated to high-speed trains only for passengers. Around 2010 the program was slowing because of investigations on corruption and also some accident due to mismanagement. The necessary investments were about 70 billions reminbi per year and the debts reached 5% of total China State debt. The investments rate of return was indicated around 8%, and so a big positive relaunch has been done from 2014, reaching profitability on the main lines and planning a new 8+8 grid to complete the connections among cities. That means 8 lines from East to West and 8 lines from North to South, with standard performances around 400km/h, which should be completed in 2030. The Chinese technology its also at the top of high-speed system export, going to Mexico, Thailand and all Pacific region. Take into account that USA has only one line in California at a 200 km/h speed. The new Silk Road run to Kazakhstan until Hungary and to Caspian Sea until Turkey. Definitely I think that all this dream changed completely the people perspectives, having an enormous impact on soft skills and culture of Chinese, more important that the economic results obtained. The railway has been the major progress factor in English globalisation, think to India or Argentina and in Russian empire to Asia. China demonstrated that this old technology could be transformed as a strategic logistic factor in the modern globalisation, China driven.
