Comments on: China HSR Construction Speeds Up

By: s1

s1 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:30:33 +0000

Someone on a Chinese infrastructure forum posted this schedule.

350 km/h PDL line
Beijing – Tianjin 118 km, opend in 2008
Wuhan – Guangzhou 968 km, will open in 2009
Zhengzhou – Xi’an 456 km, will open in 2009
Guangzhou – Shenzhen 105 km, will open in 2010
Shanghai – Hangzhou 160 km, will open in 2010
Beijing – Shanghai 1318 km, will open in 2011
Nanjing – Hangzhou 249 km, will open in 2011
Hangzhou – Ningbo 150 km, will open in 2011
Harbin – Dalian 904 km, will open in 2011
Beijing – Shijiazhuang 278 km, will open in 2012
Shijiazhuang – Zhengzhou – Wuhan 838 km, will open in 2012
Tianjin – Qinhuangdao 258 km, will open in 2012

250 km/h line
Qinhuangdao – Shenyang 404 km, opened in 2003
Hefei – Nanjing 156 km, opened in 2008
Hefei – Wuhan 357 km, opened in 2009
Shijiazhuang – Taiyuan 189 km, opened in 2009
Ningbo – Wenzhou 282 km, will open in 2009
Wenzhou – Fuzhou 298 km will open in 2009
Fuzhou – Xiamen 273 km, will open in 2009
Jinan – Qingdao 366 km, will open in in 2009
Nanchang – Jiujiang 131 km, will open in 2010
Shanghai – Nanjing 300 km, will open in 2010
Haikou – Sanya 297 km, will open in 2010
Changchun – Jilin 109 km, will open in 2011
Xiamen -Shenzhen 501 km, will open in 2011
Wuhan – Yichang 292 km, will open in 2011
Nanjing – Anqing 250 km, will open in 2012
Nanning – Guangzhou 577 km, will open in 2012
Nanning – Hengyang 724 km, will open in 2012
Chongqing – Lichuan 244 km, will open in 2012
Fuzhou – Putian 604, will open in 2012
Guiyang – Guangzhou 857 km, will open in 2012

200 km/h line
Lichuan – Yichang 288 km, will open in 2010

By: Yonah Freemark

Yonah Freemark — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:45:10 +0000

Current California HSR Authority plans would connect LA to SF in 2h40.

By: Damien Goodmon

Damien Goodmon — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:42:15 +0000

I recall reading the breaking point, at least for a country with low-cost airlines, is around 3.5-4.5 hours or less than 500 miles.

And if HSR from LA to SF takes 5 hours it will be a dud. You can make the trip in about that time (5.5-6 hours at normal speeds) right now in an automobile.

By: NikolasM

NikolasM — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:20:47 +0000

5 hours is plenty competitive – downtown to downtown. The airports are not close to the city center. Not only that but you need to give yourself at least 1.5 hours (though maybe you are considering that to some extent) to the front end of an airport trip for check in and security. You have freedom to move about on a train and are not cramped like on a plane save for the 8 people in business/first class. The next time jet fuel prices jump to $4 a gallon there won’t be any airlines left to fly you anyways.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:45:52 +0000

Two things. First, HSR isn’t really competitive at five hours. At that distance, flying takes 2.5 hours, and a 2.5-hour time penalty is too much for HSR to handle. This is especially true for a route like NY-Chicago, on which the route has to take major detours to pass through important intermediate destinations like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. China can build this line because it doesn’t have a good low-cost airline network yet, and because the line can pass through more intermediate cities.

Second, you really can’t compare infrastructure spending between a country with 10% growth and one with 3% growth. The US needs more current spending than China just to maintain its present standard of living, so it will naturally have less to spend on new infrastructure. It also has more overbuilt infrastructure to maintain. Countries with more mature rail technology, like Germany and Japan, are building new HSR at a slower pace.