China opens the world's longest high-speed rail route, which links Beijing and Guangzhou.
The BeijingGuangzhouShenzhenHong Kong high-speed railway or Jingguangshengang high-speed railway from its Chinese name is a high-speed railway corridor of the CRH passenger service, connecting Beijingxi station in Beijing and West Kowloon station in Hong Kong in less than nine hours of travel time. It is 2,230 kilometres (1,390 mi) long, and is the only Chinese high-speed railway to cross a border that requires immigration and customs clearance. The existing, conventional Jingguang railway runs largely parallel to the line.
The line forms part of the BeijingHarbin, BeijingHong Kong (Macau) corridor, based on the "Eight Verticals and Eight Horizontals" railway master plan announced in 2016.
High-speed rail (HSR) in China is the world's longest high speed railway network and most extensively used – with a total length of 40,000 km by the end of 2021. The HSR network encompasses newly built rail lines with a design speed of 200–350 km/h (120–220 mph). China's HSR accounts for two-thirds of the world's total high-speed railway networks. Almost all HSR trains, track and service are owned and operated by the China Railway Corporation under the brand China Railway High-speed (CRH).
High-speed rail developed rapidly in China over the past 15 years. CRH was introduced in April 2007 and the Beijing-Tianjin intercity rail, which opened in August 2008, was the first passenger dedicated HSR line. HSR extends to all provincial-level administrative divisions except Macau. The HSR network reached just under 38,000 km (24,000 mi) in total length by the end of 2020. The HSR building boom continues with the HSR network set to reach 70,000 km (43,000 mi) in 2035.China's early high-speed trains were imported or built under technology transfer agreements with foreign train-makers including Alstom, Siemens, Bombardier and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Since the initial technological support, Chinese engineers have re-designed internal train components and built indigenous trains manufactured by the state-owned CRRC Corporation.
The advent of high-speed rail in China has greatly reduced travel time and has transformed Chinese society and economy. A World Bank study found "a broad range of travelers of different income levels choose HSR for its comfort, convenience, safety and punctuality."Notable HSR lines in China include the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway which at 2,298 km (1,428 mi) is the world's longest HSR line in operation, and the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway with the world's fastest operating conventional train services. The Shanghai Maglev is the world's first high-speed commercial magnetic levitation ("maglev") line, whose trains run on non-conventional track and reach a top speed of 430 km/h (267 mph). In 2020, China started testing a maglev prototype train that runs at 600 km/h and planned a 2025 launch date.