China gets on board multi-billion dollar railway project to speed up economy
[Photo: China Post - A bullet train arrives at the northern Shanghai Railway Station on Sunday, April 29, 2007, in Shanghai, China. (Bloomberg News)]
China Post: Monday, December 8, 2008 11:08 am TWN, By Marianne Barriaux, AFP
BEIJING -- Travelling at 330 kilometers an hour on one of Chinas fastest trains, businessman Ren Wenzuo had nothing but praise for a multi-billion-dollar plan to spin a web of new rail links across the country.
People nowadays want to have convenient ways of travel, and with more fast trains across China, they will bring convenience to everyone, he said on board the service from Beijing to neighboring Tianjin.
Ren, 47, said a work trip to Tianjin now took him one day to complete, compared with two before the new line was introduced in August, when the train service took twice as long.
More is to come as China recently approved a two-trillion-yuan (US$300 billion) investment in its railway infrastructure over the next two years in a bid to spur growth in the face of the global economic crisis.
Longer term, China is aiming to have 120,000 kilometers (74,500 miles) of tracks laid down by 2020, up from 79,000 today, deputy railway minister Lu Dongfu told reporters last month.
Investing in infrastructure is a good way to spur growth amid the current economic woes, said Hu Xingdou, economics professor at the Beijing University of Technology.
The drop in exports is a situation that is very hard to change, consumer demand cannot be spurred very quickly, so investing in infrastructure becomes quite an effective method, he said.
Chinas economy is slowing dramatically, with the World Bank predicting the countrys growth rate will be just 7.5 percent next year, the lowest in nearly two decades.
China made a similar move at the end of the 1990s amid the Asian financial crisis by investing heavily in the road network across the country.
The huge cash injection in the rail system is expected to boost employment and demand for raw materials, and promote real estate as land and towns near the new railways are also developed.
I estimate these investments in railways could contribute as much as two percent to the annual GDP, said Hu.
But more than a way to spur growth in the face of the financial crisis, the railway investment is a much-needed cash injection in an industry that has been relatively neglected.
Chinas railways have long lagged in development, so rail transport is the bottleneck of the nations economic and social growth, the weak point of the transport industry, and urgently needs faster expansion, said Lu.
Chinas railway network is already one of the most extensive in the world, but it has come under pressure as the nations economy has boomed, giving many of the countrys 1.3 billion people more opportunity to travel.
Chinese New Year is a perfect illustration of the bottlenecks that grip the countrys railways, when scenes of havoc take hold at stations throughout the nation as people desperately try to get a place on a train to go home.
Chinas vast territory, full of natural resources such as coal that need to be moved from far flung regions to the cities, also highlights the importance of the railway network in the country.
The nation is currently only able to satisfy around 35 percent of applications for freight transport, according to Wang Fang, China transport coordinator for the Asian Development Bank.
If the rail system is improved in terms of its capacity and its service, the overall economy can benefit from cost savings, time savings, for both cargo and passenger transport, she said.
But Joseph Cheng, professor of political science at the City University of Hong Kong, sounded a note of warning on focusing too heavily on infrastructure investment to spur economic growth at the expense of more important priorities.
This is high time for China to spend some money on social services education, services for the elderly, medical care, and not only infrastructure projects, said Cheng.
We're often advised to enjoy the journey more than the goal. In that case, you'd better be quick if you want to savour the bullet train to Tianjin in China.
The world's fastest inter-city train covers the 120 km in just 29 minutes, reaching a peak of 350 km/h. If you like to read a book or gaze at the passing countryside, this isn't for you. (120 กิโลเมตรในเวลา 29 นาที)
If, on the other hand, you want to be whisked from A to B quickly, cheaply and comfortably, China's new trains are heaven-sent.
For some, it might seem predictable, even mundane. A booming country, money to burn, flexing its new economic muscle on the back of an acclaimed Olympic Games.
Not so for 65-year-old Yuan Yishan. He appreciates the good times because he still remembers the bad. The accountant from Tianjin has been travelling to and from Beijing for about 45 years.
When we met, he had zipped up to Beijing South first thing, completed his work inside three hours and by lunchtime was waiting for his trip home to south Tianjin to prepare dinner for his grandson.
"Forty years ago, it was impossible to travel between the two cities in a day and the slow train made the short trip uncomfortable," he said, looking utterly contented.
"My first train to Beijing was in the early 1960s. It was a slow steam train and took about four and a half hours. We had to sit on hard wooden benches and my back was aching all over when I got off at the old Yongdingmen Station."
No wonder, then, that when Beijing South made its grand debut on the eve of the Olympics, he was an immediate fan. "It feels like flying on land!" he beamed. "One day I noticed the speed reached 320 km/h. Apart from the speed, the big soft chair and free mineral water made the journey comfortable and relaxed.
"Now there are trains to and from Beijing every 15 minutes and there are restaurants and coffee shops in the station hall. I really enjoy these trips." The second-class ticket for 59 yuan (US$8.3) also went down well. (รถออกทุก 15 นาที แถมค่าตั๋วแค่ 59 หยวน - ประมาณ 300 บาท - แค่นี้ ก็เด็ดดวงแล้ว)
For Australian businessman Charles Brent, the bullet train marks an end to ghastly road trips.
"I used to drive back and forth," said the investment specialist, who paid an extra 10 yuan for a wee bit more space and comfort in the first-class carriage.
"It used to take three and a half hours and it was quite dangerous. Invariably I would see an accident, often a fatal one. It was so bad I wouldn't even consider doing it at night. Trucks would stop in the middle of the road and put you at risk of decapitating yourself if you drove into the back of them. Other drivers would stop to change wheels when you least expected it."
Brent believes this is just the start. "I reckon China's railway network will lead the world in design and efficiency, both for passengers and freight, within 15 years," he said.
"I have dramatically increased my use of trains in the last two years--they have become so much faster, safer and more pleasant than driving."
Price and speed were the motivation for Cai Meijuan, 34. Cai, a native of Qingdao, landed a sales job in Beijing in 2001 and ever since has been returning home twice a year to visit her parents.
She has recently had to make the trip several times and has switched to the new high-speed trains. "A one-way flight cost me 700 yuan ($100) and the new train is only 200 ($29)," she said. (รถไฟไปปักกิ่ง - ชิงเตา คิด แค่ 200 หยวน - 1000 บาท ถูกกว่าตั๋วเครื่องบินที่เอาตั้ง 700 หยวน - 3500 บาท)
"The new train to Qingdao takes about five hours, twice as quick as the old one. The flight time might be quicker but you have to arrive at the airport at least an hour before to check in and it takes an extra hour to get home from Qingdao Airport, so the train makes a lot of sense for me."
The only complaint Cai had was access to the rest of Beijing from the new train station. She is relishing the day the new subway lines are connected, slicing even more money and time off her journey.
Australian factory owner Bill McGuinness planned to spend as much of his three-week business trip to China on the new trains. "I'd use them every day of the week," he said as he prepared to start his four-hour 30-minute journey to Jinan. "It's the best way to see the country."
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