The Country Where Trains Leave Early
Posted on May 2, 2012 Boosted by stimulus investments, China is fast catching up to become a technological innovator. In recent months, when taking the new high speed trains out of Shanghai, a time-conscious frequent traveler would have noticed that his train left the station at least 1 minute early,
every time. It needs careful attention to notice because, when the train leaves, there is no commotion of last minute passengers trying to get on: the platform is empty and every traveler is already on the train, early as well.
The whole country is coming on board for China’s advanced rail schedule. 42 high-speed train lines (13’000 km of track at 350 Km/h to 250 Km/h speeds) are under construction. These lines were planned for completion in 10 years. But when the world financial crisis hit, investments were made by the Chinese government and the project timelines were brought forward to finish all the high-speed railway lines by 2012!
Over 100’000 workers alone are building the 1’500 Km Shanghai Beijing line. This will cut rail transportation time from 12, to less than 5 hours, making the train trip competitive with flying and saving considerable amounts of fuel. Just as China’s transportation sector is accelerating so is every other facet of the Chinese landscape.
