Chongqing East Railway Station in southwest China features a futuristic lighting design. After dark, its tech-inspired glow gives the station an almost sci-fi look. #China #RailwayStation #cyberpunk #Chongqing
https://www.facebook.com/ChinaXinhuaEconomy/videos/701015875605756
BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) -- China's railway sector set a new record, handling 1.46 billion passenger trips during the first four months of 2025, up 5.9 percent year on year, according to data from the national railway operator released on Thursday.
The national railway operated an average of 11,224 passenger trains per day during the four-month period, a year-on-year increase of 7.1 percent, said China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway).
To closely match market demand for sightseeing and eco-wellness, China Railway has carefully planned travel routes to suitable destinations, which helped boost the development of both the tourism and silver economies.
During the five-day May Day holiday, China's domestic travel and consumption boomed. Key figures include:
314 million domestic trips, up 6.4% YoY
102 million railway passenger trips, up 10.8% YoY
180.27 billion yuan, roughly 25 billion USD, in tourism revenue, up 8.0% YoY
https://www.facebook.com/ChinaXinhuaEconomy/posts/1012708857713417
BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- China's railway network handled a record of nearly 23.12 million passenger trips on Thursday, the first day of the May Day holiday, according to the national railway operator.
นายหลิว เท่อ เจ้าหน้าที่รับผิดชอบการก่อสร้างโครงสร้างพื้นฐานของ China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. กล่าวว่า **การเชื่อมโยงฉงชิ่ง-ฉางซาที่เพิ่งสร้างเสร็จนี้** เมื่อรวมกับ**ส่วนกั้นโจว-เซี่ยเหมินที่เปิดดำเนินการไปแล้ว** และ**ส่วนฉางซา-กั้นโจวที่อยู่ระหว่างการก่อสร้าง** จะ**ก่อให้เกิดระเบียงรถไฟความเร็วสูงฉงชิ่ง-เซี่ยเหมิน**
China is now building lines compatible for 400km/h operation and testing high speed trainsets compatible for 450km/h running.
Chinas first lines designed for 400 km/h operation are now under construction, and two 450 km/h variants of its domestically developed Fuxing high speed train family started test running earlier this year. Toma Bačić investigates.
https://www.railwaygazette.com/in-depth/china-high-speed-family-gets-ready-to-move-faster/68997.article?
Q: Why would China choose to accept losses on its bullet train projects instead of making them profitable?
A: There is a Chinese idiom called the frog at the bottom of the well, which refers to someone with a narrow view of the world, thinking the sky is only as wide as the mouth of the well. If you view China's high-speed rail project simply as a business venture aimed at short-term profit, you may just be a "frog in the well."
Indeed, from the very beginning, China's high-speed rail project has been operating at a loss. This is easy to understand, as China's land area is 9.6 million square kilometers17 times larger than France, the largest country in the European Unionand it is geographically complex. Unlike the flat terrain of the United States, China has the low-lying Sichuan Basin and the towering Himalayan Mountains. Additionally, the long construction cycles and slow return on investment in high-speed rail have resulted in a massive accumulation of debt in the short term.
However, China now boasts the world's largest high-speed rail network, totaling about 46,000 kilometers, covering most of the country. During China's Spring Festival travel period, its railway network transports up to 9 billion passengers. Therefore, for China, whether it's raising train ticket prices or halting the expansion of rail lines, achieving profitability in the next 20 years would be quite easy.
But China didn't do so. Why? Because China is not like the United States where people are merchants and everything they do is measured in terms of money first. On the contrary, look at what the United States has gained from laying high-speed railways for profit? It cost 16 billion US dollars in 17 years, but not even a single track was laid.
For China, high-speed rail is a convenient and beneficial public facility for the people. Lets see the comparison with the U.S. For example, the ticket price from New York to Washington, 362 kilometers apart, is $82, averaging $0.23 per kilometer. In contrast, the ticket price from Wuhan to Guangzhou, 1,069 kilometers away, is only $76, which averages about $0.07 per kilometer. Do you see the difference? The reason for Chinas losses is that its benefiting the people.
At the same time, the long-term profitability of high-speed rail is considerable. I have a friend working in Hong Kong who earns 50,000 RMB a month. In Hong Kong, if she wants to save money, she can only spend 5,000 Hong Kong dollars ($695) a month. She can only rent a 5-square-meter coffin-like room, just big enough for one person to turn around in.
Now, she lives in Shenzhen and spends 2 hours commuting there and back every day. For the same amount of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (695USD), she can rent a 50-square-meter house, which would cost at least 20,000 Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong.
The support for her daily commute between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is the advanced high-speed rail system. The journey takes only 18 minutes and costs 68 RMB ($9). Not only is it fast, but its also affordable. As a result, my friend saves an extra 10,000 RMB each month, totaling 120,000 RMB ($16692) a year. Currently, nearly 8 million people commute between cities by high-speed rail in China to save on housing costs. The money they savewhether invested, spent on travel, or consumedcreates an invisible value worthy of trillions of RMB.
Moreover, China has a saying: "If you want to get rich, build roads first." If you were born in a mountainous region, without high-speed rail, it would be almost impossible to leave the mountains, let alone work, study, or create value. But with high-speed rail, everything changes. Statistics show that for every 100 million yuan invested in high-speed rail, the surrounding economy grows by 180 million yuan, and for every 2,000 kilometers of rail built, 5.65 million jobs are created.
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