High-speed train of thought races abroad

Premier Li Keqiang is playing the role of “high-speed train salesman” again during his going visit. Premier Li Keqiang and leading officials from Hungary, Serbia and Macedonia agreed on Wednesday to build a land-sea express route by expanding the Budapest-Belgrade rail line to Skopje, Athens and the major container port of Piraeus in Greece. And China-Thailand high-speed railway cooperation is expected to make a breakthrough during Li’s Thailand visit.

China’s cooperation with a number of countries s to build a high-speed rail network connecting it with Southeast Aisa, Central Asia, Europe and some other parts of the world will help reshape China’s economic landscape and boost the regional economy.

By the end of 2013, China had a high-speed train network of more than 10,000 kilometers, the world’s largest, which connected many major cities making travel and freight transport much faster and more convenient. By the end of 2015, the mileage is expected to reach 19,000 km.

China’s high-speed railway program is not confined to the country. It is now crossing borders, as Vietnam has agreed to build a $12.2-billion railway line connecting the two countries. Aside from Thailand, China is planning to build a high-speed rail network through Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Middle East nations like Iran and Turkey up to Germany. In the north, Beijing is reportedly negotiating with Moscow to build a line stretching from Heilongjiang province to Russia’s northern regions. As for the Thailand project, it is likely to be extended through Malaysia to reach Singapore. Besides, some African countries could get China’s help to build their own high-speed railways.

Such massive projects were unimaginable some years ago, with many doubting China’s capability to build an extensive high-speed train network. The attention then was focused on the cost effectiveness and financial sustainability of the projects, because critics said it would be difficult for the operators to make profits. The corruption case against former railways minister Liu Zhijun and the tragic accident in Wenzhou in 2011 once cast a darker shadow on the high-speed rail project.

But the operators of the landmark Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line have made a profit this year, just three years after the service started in the summer of 2011. With the safety of all the lines ensured, high-speed trains have been attracting an increasing number of passengers. Besides, Chinese high-speed railway companies have secured quite a few orders from abroad, signifying that the sector is stepping out of the woods.