Beijing-Guangzhou high speed rail on trial
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E-mail CRI, November 29, 2012
One of the longest high-speed rail lines in the world has been completed in China.
The new 2200 km line from Beijing to China's southern city of Guangzhou will cut the train ride from 22 hours to eight.
The country now has a larger high-speed railway network than the rest of the world's combined.
CRI's Alexandra Blucher has more.
China's enormous land mass, exploding middle class and high population density makes it a perfect fit for a high-speed rail network.
The new Beijing to Guangzhou line is the latest edition to China's high speed rail network.
A test run on the last section, between Beijing and Zhengzhou, the capital of central China's Henan, began last Sunday.
Tom So is a businessman based in Guangzhou who travels on a weekly basis. He says that while air-travel remains his most common mode of transport for business, he'd rather take the high-speed train because he can keep using the internet and his phone.
"Most of us fly because of time. The time, sometime we rush somewhere in the morning and after the meeting we jump back to the plane and come back to Guangzhou. But the train being sped up is quite convenient, more comfortable the seat, you got wi-fi, you can get ready there. If I've got time I'd rather take the train actually."
Australian Nicole Kelton, who is studying Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guangzhou, says she likes the convenience of high-speed rail for last minute travel plans.
"Travelling by train the prices are fixed and so by comparison to flight tickets which fluctuate depending on when you book them, so if you wanted to make a trip, a weekend trip, a last minute trip, to Wuhan, you can and it's not going to be extremely expensive, you're still going to be able to access it quickly and afterwards you can continue on the same journey and go and visit your friends in Beijing."
Experts say that it is this increase in inter-city connectivity that is a major benefit of the new north to south corridor.
Gerald Ollivier is the head railway expert for the World Bank's China bureau, who has worked closely with the Chinese government on the network.
He says that as well as being better for the environment, time-saving and decreasing road accidents, a high-speed railway network has economic development benefits too.
"Those really occur as firms and individuals are able to benefit from a clustering of economic activity taking place as a result, as the cities start working more and more as a set of urban areas rather than individual cities."
Ollivier uses the city of Zhengzhou to explain how the new connectivity between the second and third tier cities along the new line will boost development.
"When you open the Beijing rail system and the Beijing to Wuhan link in particular. Suddenly you have 28 million people who are within two hours of a rail trip to the city, which means that suddenly, you have the possibility of attracting people who will come for a day trip to do business or people who want to come to see friends in a nearby city which they would not have done before."
The complete line is set to open before the end of this year.
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