Business class ticket prices drop by 65%, economy fares by 52%! Another discount airline entering the fray? No, it is the new Beijing - Shanghai high speed railway giving air carriers a run for their money.
Clocking four hours and 48 minutes for a distance of 1,318 kilometers, with no airport drives and reporting times, China’s foray into high speed train links will revolutionize train travel the world over.
Did you know which is the longest bridge in the world? It is the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge, 164 kilometres long, on the same rail link. The 114-km long viaduct bridge between Langfang and Qingxian is the second longest in the world, and the viaduct between Beijing's Fourth Ring Road and Langfang is the fifth longest, all on this line.
There are several other records.
It is the world's longest high-speed line ever constructed in a single phase. The railway line is the first one designed for a maximum running speed of 380 km/h, and a continuous operating speed of 350 km/hour.
July, 2011 I traveled on the new high speed Beijing - Shanghai train line from Tianjin to Changzhou (Jiangsu Province) - about 1,220 km in a little over four hours, with five intermediate stops.
The Beijing Shanghai line is all new, complete with new stations, new station buildings, etc. - in short it is an entirely new railway system on its own.
Stations are built huge, sprawling - exactly like airports. All amenities, gates, boarding, staff are like airports.
Tickets are sold against valid ID cards (passport or other government issued ID) only.
Gates open 15 to 20 minutes before train departs. Elderly people, pregnent women, children have priority boarding.
Once in the coach, it is again like an airline. Second class is three - three configuration. First is two - two. Business also two - two but fully reclining. Windows have curtains. Both door ends have a display with station names and speed.
There are stewardesses, pretty young girls, very elegantly dressed and very courteous. There is a restaurant/bar car but trolley service is available all through out.
The ride is practically noiseless and jerk-free. Overhead bins have luggage which does not move or shake at all. Only slight "phit" is heard when a train passes - it is very slight, not noticeable unless you watch out for it. There is no rail sound at all.
In short, a great, smooth ride!
Seats are very comfortable, reclining seats. Business class seats are almost lie-flat. There is also a second class.
There are over 90 pairs of trains using the line. 63 pairs (up + down) of express trains (G trains) on this corridor between various pairs of stations. Forty-six of these are between Beijing and Shanghai, at varying intervals, first one at 7 am and the last at 5.57 pm. Some, during mid-day, are even at 5 minutes intervals, taking between 4h 48m (one intermediate halt) and 5h 30m (8 halts), depending on number of stops. Five of them go beyond Shanghai, up to Hangzhou.
The rest 17 start from intermediate stations to Shanghai/other intermediate stations, three of these from Tianjin to Shanghai.
Using the corridor are another 27 pairs of slower trains (D trains), which take about 25% more time that express trains.
Quite an impressive operation!
The train line is an engineering marvel and a great feat by China.
Called the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway (or Jinghu High-Speed Railway from its Chinese name) is a 1,318-kilometre (819 mi) long high-speed railway that connects two major economic zones in the People's Republic of China : the Bohai Economic Rimand the Yangtze River Delta.
First proposed in the early 1990s, construction on the line began on April 18, 2008. A ceremony to mark the completion of track laying was held on November 15, 2010. Trial runs started in December 2010 and the line opened to the public for commercial service on June 30, 2011.
Though the line is designed for a maximum running speed of 380 km/h, the actual maximum running speed has been slowed down to 300 km/h (186 mph), reducing operating costs. Additionally, a slower class of trains running at 250 km/h (155 mph) would be operated, making more stops and with lower fares.
The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Co., Ltd. was in charge of construction. The project was expected to cost 220 billion yuan (about $32 billion). More than 130,000 construction workers and engineers were at work at the peak of the construction phase.
The route is monitored by 321 seismic, 167 windspeed and 50 rainfall sensors.
An estimated 220,000 passengers are expected to use the trains each day,which is double the current capacity. During peak hours, trains should run every five minutes.
Nearly 1,150 km, or 87% of railway is elevated. There are 244 bridges along the line. The line also includes 22 tunnels, totaling 16.1 km. 1,268 km of the length is ballastless.
The rolling stock used on this line consists mainly of CRH380 trains. The CTCS-3 based train control system is used on the line, to allow for a maximum speed of 380 km/h of running and a minimum train interval of 3 minutes. With power consumption of 20 MW and capacity of about 1,050 passengers, the energy consumption per passenger from Beijing to Shanghai should be less than 80kWh.
For the inaugural journey, tickets were put on sale at 9am on June 24 and sold out within an hour. To compete with the new train service, airlines slashed the cost of flights between Beijing and Shanghai by up to 65%. Economy air fares between Beijing and Shanghai fell by 52%.
There are already two high speed trains in operation in China:
- The Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway, an intercity express line opened in 2008, that shortened the 117 km commute between the two largest cities in northern China to 30 minutes. Trains reach top speeds of 330 km/h and average 234 km/h.
- The Shanghai Maglev Train, an airport rail link service opened in 2004, that travels 30 km (19 mi) in 7 minutes, 20 seconds, averaging 240 km/h (150 mph) and reaching top speed of 431 km/h (268 mph).
Over two dozen more high speed lines are being built all over China built which will connect various other cities by high speed rail links (speeds of 200 km/h and above). All of them will be ready by 2014.
Proposals are also actively being discussed to export this technology to the United States of America.
Train travel is being revolutionalized by China.
More so, excited by this excerpt our relatives in India published an article on High speed trains in China in the Hindustan Times, Lucknow.
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