As one of “China’s new four great inventions”, China’s high-speed rail eyes the world again with “Fuxing”, the next-generation bullet train which boasts a top speed of 400 km/h and a consistent speed of 350 km/h.
From September 21, seven trains will operate every day on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line with a regular speed of 350km/h, the fastest among the world’s high-speed trains put into passenger service.
This is not the first time that China’s high-speed train has won applause, but it does reflect the great development of it over the past five years. Now China’s high-speed train not only becomes the first choice for traveling, but also opens a new era in the global high-speed rail market.
Over the past five years, China has built the world’s largest high-speed rail network, including four rail lines north to south and four lines east to west. The network is spread over 22,000 kilometers (13,670 miles), which is about 60 percent of the world’s total.
Approved by the State Council, a new network, expanded to eight lines for both north to south and east to west, is being built to cover most central and western regions of China. When it is completed, the national high-speed railway mileage will reach 45,000 km, double of the present, making more than 200,000 people in the city enjoy the convenience of high-speed trains.
China has mastered the key technologies of building high-speed trains. With completely independent intellectual property rights, China keeps breaking world records in the high-speed train construction history.
Fuxing, whose name means “rejuvenation”, is totally designed and manufactured by Chinese engineers without any help from the West. It marks a great innovation, laying the foundation of exporting domestic high-speed trains and making it a new Chinese brand.
China’s high-speed train is not only known for its amazing speed, but also for its safety and comfort. Last year, it safely carried 1.44 billion passengers, or the total population of Africa and South America combined.
In 2015, a video taken by a Swedish traveler became popular on social media home and abroad. In the nine-minute video, a coin stood upright all the time on a fast-running high-speed train. It reflects the steadiness of China’s high-speed train, giving visitors a comfortable traveling experience.
The service on China’s high-speed rail is still improving. The new bullet train plans to increase the height to make it more spacious, and the Wi-Fi network will cover the whole train. Its air conditioning system is designed to reduce the impact of the external pressure wave when the train is passing through tunnels, easing discomfort of ears.
China’s high-speed rail, characterized by its comfort, convenience, safety, affordability and punctuality, attracts a large number of foreign travelers to try every year. The question “How does it feel to take the high-speed train in China” receives rave reviews on Quora, a question-and-answer site, with lots of tourists sharing their experience.
Since China’s high-speed rail has worldwide popularity, Chinese train-makers have quickened the pace of “going out”, exporting China’s mature construction techniques. China helped Turkey, Indonesia and Russia to build its first high-speed rail and currently is bidding on high-speed rail projects in the United States, Brazil and some other countries.
China’s high-speed rail also plays a significant role in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative. It will benefit countries along the Belt and Road, updating and improving the existing transportation system. As a competitive product, it provides a platform to promote global cooperation in production capacity, reconfirming China’s position as the world’s second largest economy.
The rapid development of China’s high-speed rail in the past five years marks China’s increasing strength in technology and innovation. It has become a new symbol, showing China’s great progress to the world.