Rail system on track for major innovation, senior engineer says

The railway system will be safer, faster, more environmentally friendly and cover more areas to serve a wider public, a senior engineer said on Thursday.

"The China Railways Corp (CRC) will continue to innovate both in technologies and management," said Lu Chunfang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the general director of the Beijing to Shanghai High-Speed Railway.

Lu, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was speaking before the closing ceremony of the first session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing on Thursday.

China will improve security for its future high-speed trains on three fronts—operations, design and material, as well as its internal software and mechanism, Lu said.

Engineers are also working on environmental sensing, self-driving, magnetic rails, vacuum tunnels and other technologies to make future trains smarter and faster.

Trains that are quieter, use less energy and more environmentally friendly materials are also in the works.

"Future Chinese high-speed trains will be safer, faster, and more comfortable than ever," he said.

In 2017, China had 26,000 kilometers of high-speed rail, accounting for more than 60 percent of the world's high-speed rail, according to CRC, the nation's railway operator.

China's high-speed railway coverage will reach 38,000 kilometers by 2025, as Lu said.

In terms of technological innovations for the trains, "we have to fix our shortcomings by replacing foreign parts with domestically designed equipment," he said. "At the same time, we have to build on top of technologies that we are currently leading."