China High Speed Railways
China high-speed railways are made up of national high-speed rail grid, regional high-speed rail, high-speed intercity railways, and other newly-built or upgraded railways. By the end of 2018, China’s high-speed rail operating mileage exceeded 29,000 kilometers, accounting for more than two-thirds of the world’s and more than the sum of other countries. In 2019, it is planned to ensure the commissioning of a new high-speed railway line of 3,200 kilometers. As of April 2019, the length of high-speed railway bridges in China had exceeded 16,000 kilometers.
Map of China High Speed Railways
National High-Speed Rail Grid
4+4 HSR Grid
The grid consists of eight high-speed railways, of which four runs north-south and four east-west, with a total length of 12,000 km. Most of the routes follow the existing trunk lines, but along the southeastern coastal corridor, new ones have been built to connect the cities that were previously connected by railways. High-speed trains in high-speed corridors can usually reach 300-350 kilometers per hour (190-220 miles per hour). On mixed-use high-speed rail lines, passenger train can reach a maximum speed of 200-250 km/h (120-160 miles/h).
Beijing–Shanghai High-speed Passageway
Main stations: Beijing South Station – Tianjin South Station – Jinan West Station – Xuzhou East Station – Bengbu South Station – Nanjing South Station – Shanghai Hongqiao Station. The total length is about 1318 km, the design speed is 350 km/h, and it can speed up to 380 km/h. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway was officially opened on June 30, 2011. The EMUs operated at a maximum speed of 300 km/h, and the shortest running time between Beijing and Shanghai was reduced to 4 hours and 48 minutes.
Bengbu-Hefei and Nanjing-Hangzhou passenger line are also included in the Beijing-Shanghai Passageway.
Beijing–Hong Kong (Taipei) Passageway
Main stations: Beijing West Station – Shijiazhuang Station – Zhengzhou East Station – Wuhan Station – Changsha South Station – Guangzhou South Station – Shenzhen North Station – Hong Kong West Kowloon Station. The passageway is composed of Beijing-Shijiazhuang line, Shijiazhuang-Wuhan line, Wuhan-Guangzhou line and Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong line. It connects North China, Central China and South China with a designed speed of 350 km/h.
Beijing-Harbin Passageway
Main stations: Beijing Xinghuo Station – Chengde South Station – Chaoyang North Station – Fuxin North Station – Shenyang Station / Shenyang North Station / Shenyang South Station – Tieling West Station – Siping East Station – Changchun Station / Changchun West Station – Harbin West Station. The passageway is composed of Beijing-Shenyang line, Harbin-Dalian line and Panying. Its total length is about 1612 kilometers, which connects the northeast and Guanbei areas, with a design speed of 350 km/h.
Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen Passageway
Main stations: Hangzhou East Station-Ningbo Station-Taizhou Station-Wenzhou South Station-Fuzhou Station/Fuzhou South Station-Xiamen North Station-Shenzhen North Railway Station. It is composed of Hangzhou-Ningbo Line, Ningbo-Wenzhou Line, Wenzhou-Fuzhou Line, Fuzhou-Xiamen Line and Xiamen-Shenzhen Line, connecting the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the southeastern coastal areas.
Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu Passageway
Main stations: Shanghai Hongqiao Station – Nanjing South Station – Hefei South Station – Hankou Station – Chongqing North Station – Chengdu East Station. It is composed of Shanghai-Nanjing Line, Hefei-Nanjing Line, Hefei-Wuhan Line, Wuhan-Yichang Line, Yichang-Lichuan Line, Chongqing-Lichuan Line and Chengdu-Chongqing high-speed rail, connecting the southwest and East China. It was opened on July 1, 2014.
Xuzhou-Lanzhou Passageway
250-350km/h。Main stations: Xuzhou East Station – Shangqiu Station – Zhengzhou Station / Zhengzhou East Station – Luoyang Longmen Station – Xi’an North Station – Baoji South Station – Lanzhou West Station. It is composed of Zhengzhou-Xuzhou Line, Zhengzhou-Xi’an Line, Xi’an-Baoji Line and Baoji-Lanzhou Line. It is about 1606 kilometers long and connects Northwest and East China. The speed of the line is 250-350 km/h.
Shanghai-Kunming Passageway
Main stations: Shanghai Hongqiao Station – Hangzhou East Station – Nanchang West Station – Changsha South Station – Guiyang North Station – Kunming South Station. It is composed of Shanghai-Hangzhou line, Hangzhou-Changsha line and Changsha-Kunming line. It connects East China, Central China and Southwest China with a designed speed of 350 km/h.
Qingdao-Taiyuan Passageway
Main stations: Qingdao Station/Qingdao North Station-Jinan Station/Jinan West Station/Jinan East Station-Dezhou East Station-Shijiazhuang Station-Taiyuan South Station. It is composed of Qingdao-Jinan line, Shijiazhuang-Jinan line and Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan line. It is about 906 kilometers long and connects East China and North China. The design speed of the whole line is 200~250 km/h.
8+8 HSR Grid
8+8 HSR grid is a high-speed railway network supplemented by intercity railway, mainly consisting of the “eight vertical” corridors in coastal areas, Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the “eight horizontal” corridors in land bridges and along rivers. It can realize 1-4 hour traffic circle between adjacent large and medium-sized cities and 0.5-2 hour traffic circle within city clusters.
Eight Verticals
- Coastal Passageway: Dandong-Fanggangcheng; the extension of Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen Passageway.
- Beijing-Shanghai Passageway: The complex Line of Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway
- Beijing–Hong Kong (Taipei) Passageway: A new passageway.
- Harbin–Hong Kong (Macau) Passageway: The combination line of existing Beijing-Harbin line and Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway, together with the Guangzhou-Zhuhai-Macao branch line.
- Hohhot–Nanning Passageway: A new passageway.
- Beijing–Kunming Passageway: A new passageway.
- Baotou (Yinchuan)–Hainan Passageway: A new passageway.
- Lanzhou (Xining)–Guangzhou Passageway: A new passageway.
Eight Horizontals
- Suifenhe–Manzhouli passageway: A new passageway.
- Beijing–Lanzhou passageway: A new passageway.
- Qingdao–Yinchuan passageway: The extension line of Qingdao-Taiyuan passageway.
- Fuzhou-Yinchuan passageway: The extension line of Fuzhou-Yinchuan high-speed rail.
- Continental Bridge passageway: The extension line of Xuzhou-Lanzhou passageway.
- Yangtze River passageway: Complex Line based on Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu passage.
- Shanghai–Kunming passageway: Shanghai-Kunming high-speed railway.
- Xiamen–Chongqing passageway: A new passageway.
- Guangzhou-Kunming passageway: A new passageway.
Regional High-Speed Rail
According to the Medium and Long Term Railway Network Planning (revised in 2008), the Ministry of Railways plans to build more than 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) of Railways to expand the Western Railway Network and fill the gaps in the eastern and central railway networks. Some of these new railways are under construction to accommodate passengers and cargo at speeds of 200-250 km/h (120-160 miles/h). These railways are also considered high-speed railways, although they are not part of the national high-speed rail grid or the inter-city high-speed railway. According to the revised plan and construction in 2008, several high-speed railway lines have been incorporated into the 8+8 national grid.
High-speed Intercity Railways
Inter-city high-speed railway, refers to the high-speed railway transport system planned and built in densely populated metropolitan areas or urban agglomerations, which belongs to a type of high-speed railway. The main characteristics of Intercity High Speed Railway (IRR) are that the distance is short, the maximum speed of trains allowed by the track system is not less than 250 km/h. As a new type of rail transit in China, the intercity high-speed railway has the characteristics of both intercity railway and high-speed railway.
Currently, the main High-speed Intercity Railways in China are Beijing-Tianjin Intercity High-speed Railway, Nanchang-Jiujiang Intercity Railway, Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity Railway, Changchun-Jilin Intercity High-speed Railway, Shanghai-Hangzhou Intercity Railway, Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway, Guiyang-Kaiyang Intercity Railway, etc.
Other Newly-built or Upgraded Railways
With the expansion of the high-speed railway network, China’s conventional high-speed railway network is also increasing or upgrading new passenger and freight mixed lines. Many new conventional high-speed railways are being built or upgraded to carry high-speed passenger trains at speeds up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour. Some of these new conventional high-speed railways will become part of the high-speed rail corridor and can be used as conventional high-speed railway sections for longer high-speed railway lines.
China Speed Train Tours
China has one of the biggest and busiest rail networks in the world. In recent years, the high-speed trains are much more convenient and faster to get to the hot tourist destinations like Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Guilin, Chengdu, Kunming and more. There are many world-class scenery along the Chinese railway that cannot be appreciated by plane. Sometimes, it is the fatest way to get around. The following China speed train tour packages are carefully designed catering to your different needs and interests. Enquire about one of our pre-designed speed train tour packages or just tell us your China train plan to customize the kind of your own.
6 Days Shanghai-Suzhou-Hangzhou Tour by Speed Train
8 Days Beijing-Xian-Shanghai Tour by Speed Train
10 Days China Silk Road Tour by Speed Train from Lanzhou to Urumqi
25 Days South China Minorities Discovery by Speed Train
See more China Speed Train Tours.
