page_title: High-speed rail
section_title: China
hierarchical_section_title: High-speed rail / Existing high-speed rail systems by country / Central & East Asia / China
caption_attribution_description: 中文（繁體）‎: CRH,2014
context_page_description: High-speed rail is a type of rail transport that runs significantly faster than traditional rail traffic, using an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, new lines in excess of 250 kilometres per hour and existing lines in excess of 200 kilometres per hour are widely considered to be high-speed. The first high-speed rail system, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, began operations in Japan in 1964 and was widely known as the bullet train. High-speed trains mostly operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates a large turning radius in its design, however certain regions with wider legacy railways, such as Russia have sought to develop a high speed railway network in broad gauge.
  Several countries have built and developed high-speed rail infrastructure to connect major cities, including Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, The Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uzbekistan.
context_section_description: China has the largest network of high-speed railways in the world and in 2018 it encompassed 27,000 kilometres (17,000 miles) of high-speed rail or 60% of the world's total. The HSR building boom continues with the HSR network set to reach 38,000 km (24,000 mi) in 2025. It is also the world's busiest with an annual ridership of over 1.44 billion in 2016. According to Railway Gazette, select trains between Beijing South to Nanjing South on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway have the fastest average operating speed in the world at 317.7 km/h (197.4 mph) as of July 2019.
  The improved mobility and inter connectivity created by these new high speed rail lines has generated a whole new high speed commuter market around some urban areas. Commutes via high speed rail to and from surrounding Hebei and Tianjin into Beijing have become increasingly common, likewise are between the cities surrounding Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
caption: Chinese CRH380A high speed train
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