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China's High-Speed Rail Development

Author

Listed:
  • Martha Lawrence
  • Richard Bullock
  • Ziming Liu

Abstract

Over the past decade, China has built 25,000 km of dedicated high-speed railway—more than the rest of the world combined. What can we learn from this remarkable experience? China’s High-Speed Rail Development examines the Chinese experience to draw lessons for countries considering investing in high-speed rail. The report scrutinizes the planning and delivery mechanisms that enabled the rapid construction of the high-speed rail system. It highlights the role of long-term planning, consistent plan execution, and a joint venture structure that ensures active participation of provincial and local governments in project planning and financing. Traffic on China’s high-speed trains has grown to 1.7 billion passengers a year. The study examines the characteristics of the markets for which high-speed rail is competitive in China. It discusses the pricing and service design considerations that go into making high-speed rail services competitive with other modes and factors such as good urban connectivity that make the service attractive to customers. One of the most remarkable aspects of the Chinese experience is the rapid pace of high-quality construction. The report looks at the role of strong capacity development within and cooperation among China Railway Corporation, rail manufacturers, universities, research institutions, laboratories, and engineering centers that allowed for rapid technological advancement and localization of technology. It describes the project delivery structures and incentives for delivering quality and timely results. Finally, the report analyzes the financial and economic sustainability of the investment in high-speed rail. It finds that a developing country can price high-speed rail services affordably and still achieve financial viability, but this requires very high passenger density. Economic viability similarly depends on high passenger density.

Suggested Citation

  • Martha Lawrence & Richard Bullock & Ziming Liu, 2019. "China's High-Speed Rail Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 31801.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbpubs:31801
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Yan & Zong, Huiming, 2022. "The intercity railway connections in China: A comparative analysis of high-speed train and conventional train services," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 89-103.
    2. Zheng Chang & Mi Diao, 2022. "Inter-city transport infrastructure and intra-city housing markets: Estimating the redistribution effect of high-speed rail in Shenzhen, China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(4), pages 870-889, March.
    3. Wang, Yunmin & Cao, Guohua & Yan, Youliang & Wang, Jingjing, 2022. "Does high-speed rail stimulate cross-city technological innovation collaboration? Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 119-131.
    4. Zheng, Longfei & Chang, Zheng & Martinez, Andrea González, 2022. "High-speed rail, market access, and the rise of consumer cities: Evidence from China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 454-470.
    5. Meng, Shiting & Huang, Qingxu & Zhang, Ling & He, Chunyang & Inostroza, Luis & Bai, Yansong & Yin, Dan, 2020. "Matches and mismatches between the supply of and demand for cultural ecosystem services in rapidly urbanizing watersheds: A case study in the Guanting Reservoir basin, China," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    6. Kang, Meiling & Li, Yucheng & Zhao, Zhongkuang & Song, Min & Yi, Jun, 2023. "Travel costs and inter-city collaborative innovation: Evidence of high-speed railway in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 286-302.
    7. Ma, Wenliang & Wang, Qiang & Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Guoquan & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Understanding airline price dispersion in the presence of high-speed rail," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 93-102.
    8. Yang, Xutao & Wu, Jianhong & Zong, Yueqi & Wang, Chao, 2023. "Are China's HSR tariff affordable and economic equitable? An international comparison perspective," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. Huang, Yan & Zong, Huiming, 2020. "The spatial distribution and determinants of China’s high-speed train services," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 56-70.
    10. Li, Hui & Dong, Xiucheng & Jiang, Qingzhe & Dong, Kangyin, 2021. "Policy analysis for high-speed rail in China: Evolution, evaluation, and expectation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 37-53.
    11. Kang, Zhaoxia & Nash, Chris A. & Smith, Andrew S.J. & Wu, Jianhong, 2021. "Railway access charges in China: A comparison with Europe and Japan," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 11-20.
    12. Liansheng Zheng & Juncheng Li & Zhihua Zhao, 2022. "High‐Speed Rail Service and the Issuance of Municipal Corporate Bonds," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(4), pages 230-254, July.

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