Huang Yue, who works in Hezhou, a city in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, opted for a change in her journey home to Changbaishan in Jilin Province in northeast China, a distance of 3,000 km. Instead of her usual flight, she chose a sleeper bullet train this year. Previously, her flight home was a day-long ordeal involving multiple transfers and overnight stays. This year, she boarded the train in Guangxi on January 13, transferred in Beijing the following day, and arrived in Changbaishan around 7 p.m.
"It was my first time on a sleeper bullet train. It is very comfortable and provides some privacy," Huang told China Daily. "I even got a snack box. I recorded a vlog to share with my family." Additionally, the train ticket was 700 yuan ($95) cheaper than her usual plane ticket.
Liu Dai, a postgraduate student in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, has benefited from a direct high-speed train between Harbin and his hometown Xiangyang in Hubei Province, which opened in July 2023. "Before, it took me more than 30 hours to get home on a slow train. Since the direct high-speed rail opened, it takes only around 12 hours," he told Xinhua News Agency on January 14.
"High-speed rail has greatly shortened the distance between students studying away from home and their hometowns." Liu remarked that he used to only go home during the Spring Festival holiday, China's biggest traditional celebration. Now, with the high-speed rail, he often returns home during other holidays like the National Day holiday in October, and he also appreciates the clean and tidy train cars, the comfortable seats, and he can even order food online during the train journey.
This year's Spring Festival travel rush, the world's largest annual human migration, began on January 14 and will continue until February 22, with over 9 billion cross-regional trips expected. The enhanced convenience and comfort enjoyed by travelers like Huang and Liu is a direct result of China's rapid advancements in transportation infrastructure, particularly its high-speed rail network.
According to China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. (China Railway), the national railway operator, China's railway network had reached 162,000 km by the end of 2024, with nearly 48,000 km being high-speed rail, establishing the country as a global leader in high-speed rail development. In 2024, national railway investments reached 850.6 billion yuan ($116 billion), an 11.3-percent year-on-year increase. This funding led to the addition of over 3,100 km of new rail lines last year, including 2,457 km of high-speed rail, connecting key cities and regions.
Furthermore, China's high-speed rail technology has achieved new milestones in speed. The CR450 high-speed train prototype, unveiled in Beijing on December 29 of last year, can travel at a test speed of 450 km per hour and an operational speed of 400 km per hour. Once commercially operational, it will be the fastest high-speed train in the world, surpassing China's current CR400, which operates at 350 km per hour.
A mechanic inspects a train in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, on January 9
A network taking shape
Last December, the first direct high-speed rail line connecting Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region became operational. The 309-km Jining-Datong-Yuanping High-speed Railway now links Jining in Ulaanqab, Inner Mongolia, to Yuanping in Shanxi, with stops in Datong, Shuozhou, and Xinzhou, all within Shanxi.
This new line has considerably reduced travel time between Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, and Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, from five hours to three hours.
The railway is a pivotal element of the Hohhot-Nanning corridor, one of the "eight north-south and eight east-west corridors" of the high-speed rail network. With its completion, 81 percent of the planned network is now operational, and 14 percent is under construction, indicating a fundamental structure is now in place. This ambitious plan is based on the updated Medium and Long-Term Railway Network Plan issued by the State Council, China's highest state administrative organ, in 2016.
The Hohhot-Nanning Corridor, as envisioned in the plan, stretches approximately 2,300 km, beginning in Hohhot in the north. It then passes through Datong and Taiyuan (Shanxi), Zhengzhou (Henan), Xiangyang and Yichang (Hubei), Changde, Yiyang, Loudi, Shaoyang, and Yongzhou (Hunan), and Guilin (Guangxi) before reaching its final destination in Nanning.
Enhanced connectivity
In 2024, multiple provinces made strides in both the construction and operation of high-speed railway lines.
Shandong and Guangdong provinces became the first to surpass 3,000 km of operational high-speed rail, a notable milestone. Furthermore, Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces exceeded 2,000 km, bringing the total number of provinces with over 2,000 km of operational high-speed rail to 13.
The opening of the Nanning-Yulin section of the high-speed rail from Nanning to Zhuhai in Guangdong on December 30, 2024, was particularly noteworthy. This achievement pushed Guangxi's high-speed rail network to over 2,400 km, elevating it to sixth place nationally, surpassing provinces like Jiangxi and Fujian. Guangxi also became the ninth provincial region in China, and the first in west China, to achieve high-speed rail access for all cities (lines operating at 250 km per hour or faster).
As of late 2024, nine provinces in China had achieved the milestone of having all their cities connected by high-speed rail.
This enhanced high-speed rail network is playing a decisive role in promoting a unified national market, facilitating regional integration, and supporting coordinated development.
The Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway serves as a prime example. On December 31,2024, construction commenced on the section connecting Yichang in Hubei and Fuling in Chongqing, marking the official start of the 2,100-km railway project, with a total investment of 560 billion yuan ($76 billion).
This vital east-west artery is one of the "eight east-west corridors" in the nation's high-speed rail network. Starting in Shanghai, it travels through Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei provinces, as well as Chongqing Municipality, before reaching its terminus in Chengdu, Sichuan.
The importance of this railway is further highlighted by the major cities along its route: Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu. These six cities all have their GDP exceeding 1 trillion yuan ($136 billion), underscoring their economic importance.
The railway is scheduled for completion around 2030. Once operational, it will dramatically improve high-speed rail connectivity between east, central and west China. Travel times between Shanghai and Chengdu are expected to decrease from the current 12.2 hours to 6.7 hours, and from 10.7 hours to 5.3 hours between Shanghai and Chongqing. This will inject new momentum into the coordinated development of east, central and west China, and help bridge development gaps.
Passengers enter Zhengzhou Railway Station in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, on January 14 (XINHUA)
Future directions
China's high-speed rail network construction is now primarily focused on "gap-filling," as many provinces have only one or two prefecture-level cities that remain unconnected. As the network continues to expand, numerous small and medium-sized cities and counties are expected to gain access to high-speed rail services.
China Railway anticipates that 2,600 km of new rail lines will become operational in 2025, pushing the total nationwide railway operating mileage to over 164,000 km, with high-speed rail mileage exceeding 50,000 km.
Qin Zunwen, Secretary General of the Yangtze River Delta Think Tank Alliance, said future high-speed rail construction priorities will differ between east and west China. Western regions will prioritize completing gaps in regional trunk lines, while eastern and central regions will focus on densifying their existing high-speed rail networks.
It is important to acknowledge that China Railway's asset-liability ratio stood at 63.8 percent by the end of 2024. The substantial investment needed for railway construction, coupled with a relatively low rate of return, remains a challenge. Qin suggested that railway construction in western regions will likely continue to rely on strong financial support from the state, whereas eastern and central regions will increasingly need to self-fund projects.
In fact, local governments are increasingly taking a leading role in funding and spearheading high-speed rail projects. Multiple lines opened in 2024, including the Hangzhou-Wenzhou High-Speed Railway in Zhejiang and the Weifang-Yantai High-Speed Railway in Shandong, were funded by local governments. Qin explained that local government funding can accelerate the pace of regional high-speed rail construction to address specific regional transportation and economic development needs.
Intercity railways connecting major cities and surrounding areas are becoming a key focus for high-speed rail development. For instance, the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou High-Speed Railway began operations on December 26, 2024, enhancing the rail network connecting major cities within the Yangtze River Delta region, a major economic center in China.
Designed for a speed of 350 km per hour and encompassing eight stations, the 164-km railway links Shanghai Hongqiao Station with Suzhou (Jiangsu) and Huzhou (Zhejiang). It is the first high-speed railway connecting the three major economic hubs of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta.
With this new railway, the total operating length of the rail network in the Yangtze River Delta region has surpassed 15,000 km, with nearly half comprised of high-speed rail. The railway has reduced the travel time between Huzhou and Shanghai from two hours to just 43 minutes.
