High-speed rail by country
Encyclopedia
This article provides of a list of operating High-speed rail
networks, listed by country. High-speed rail is public transport
by rail
at speeds of at least 200 km/h (125 mph) for updated track and 250 km/h (155.3 mph) or faster for new track . The article also includes any planned expansion of existing high-speed rail networks in countries that already have one. For projects or plans in countries without existing high-speed rail lines, see Planned high-speed rail by country
.
, a turnkey
Transrapid
maglev project, imported from Germany
, is capable of an operational speed of 430 km/h and of a top speed of 501 km/h. It has connected Shanghai
and Pudong International Airport since March, 2004. In April 2007, China opened several high speed rail lines between major cities, providing a network of 6,003 km, making it the world's largest high speed rail network. By 2012, China will have a 110,000 km rail network. Of that amount 13,000 km will be high speed rail, some line capable of going over 350 km/h, making CRH the largest, fastest, most technologically advanced high speed rail system in the world. However, the Maglev line has suffered from low ridership, and various expansion plans (e.g. to Hangzhou
) remain stalled.
The Qinshen Passenger Railway (Qinhuangdao-Shenyang), China's first conventional high-speed line between, opened in 2003 with a maximum speed of 200 km/h (to be increased to 300 km/h). The Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail, the first in China to support 300+ km/h, opened in August 2008. The Shitai Passenger Railway (Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan) started operating on 1 April with a speed of 250 km/h. The construction of the 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai Express Railway started in April 2008; tracklaying began in July 2010. Additional lines are also under construction so that by 2015, the high-speed railway network in China will be larger than the combined length and capacity of the rest of the world.
On December 9, 2009, China test-ran the world's longest high speed railway line - the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway, which reduces the travel time for the nearly 1000 km from Guangzhou
to Wuhan
to just over 3 hours. The maximum speed on this test run was 394 km/h. Commercial operation of Wuhan-Guangzhou High-speed railway between Guangzhou North station
and Wuhan station started on December 26, 2009, at a maximum speed of 350 km/h. The last section of the railway between Guangzhou North station and Guangzhou South station was opened on January 30, 2010.
Japan is an extremely densely populated country: more than 70% of the land surface is mountainous and thus uninhabitable or unsuitable for road travel and parking. In fact, drivers must prove they have a parking space before they can buy a car. With such a population density, the only practical possibility for transport across the country is rail.
The recognition of the interrelationship between land development and the high-speed rail network led, in 1970, to the enactment of a law for the construction of a nationwide Shinkansen
railway network. By 1973, the Transport Minister
approved construction plans for five additional lines and basic plans for twelve others. Despite the approval, financial considerations intervened; the cost of the five lines (five trillion yen, or roughly 18 billion U.S. dollars
at the 1973 exchange rate), combined with the oil shock and the recession of the 1970s and early 1980s resulted in some lines being cancelled and others delayed until 1982.
The hosting of the 1998 Winter Olympics
in Nagano
provided Japan with a valuable opportunity to showcase its technological skills with the opening of a new rail line extension, the Nagano Shinkansen
from Tokyo to Nagano.
The national rail system (JNR), which included Shinkansen was broken up and privatized beginning in 1987 with the aim of more efficient and profitable operations in the passenger rail sector. Incremental improvements to the high-speed rail technology are being undertaken, and the network continues to be expanded. Tilting trains have been introduced to take curves faster; meanwhile, aerodynamic redesigns, stronger engines and lighter materials, air brakes
, typhoon and earthquake
precautions, and track upgrades are among the developments. As a result of improvements, the travel time from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka
(the first route opened) has decreased from 4 hours in 1964 to 2 hours 25 minutes in 2007.
A Japanese consortium led by the Central Japan Railway Company
have been researching new high-speed rail systems based on magnetic levitation
since the 1970s. Although the trains and guideways are technologically ready and over 100,000 people have ridden them, high costs remains as barriers. Test trains JR-Maglev MLX01
on the Yamanashi
Test Line have reached speeds of 581 km/h (crewed), making them the fastest trains in the world. These new maglev trains are intended to be deployed on new Tokyo–Osaka Shinkansen maglev route, called the Chuo Shinkansen
. On May 2011, JR West announced the company will start operation of maglev route from 2027 between Tokyo–Nagoya followed by Nagoya–Osaka route by 2045. Projected travel time for Tokyo–Nagoya (286km) is 40 minutes.
high-speed rail, which runs on a dedicated line, became operational in April 2004, and was the third nation outside Western Europe to have high speed intercity service, after Japan and the US. The maximum speed of the KTX, which derives its technology directly from France's Alstom
TGV, is 300 km/h. A journey from Seoul
to Daejeon
that previously took around 90 to 120 minutes now takes only 49, and the time from Daejeon
to Daegu
(Dongdaegu St.) has been similarly reduced. Passengers can save up to 2 hours on journeys from Seoul to Busan
. Since service began, there have been many complaints about the trainsets, citing general discomfort, together with seating that faces opposite the direction of travel. However, rail demand rose 25% in the second three months of service (April–June 2004). Rail revenue in general increased more than 91% from the previous year with 33% more seats offered. Recent observations indicate a growth trend and increasing public acceptance of the service. Daily ridership is now in the range of 85,000 passengers. Diversions from other modes show wide variability, according to customer surveys. KTX enticed 56% from existing rail services, 17% from air, 15% from express buses, and 12% from highways.
With the development of the HSR-350x
, South Korean media argue that Korea came to be the fourth nation to develop high-speed rail independently, and the seventh nation to acquire the technology. However, the statistics should vary according to the multiple definitions of a high speed rail. The "High Speed Rail 350x" went under development by South Korean engineers several years before the French technology-transfer program. http://www.cityglance.org/asia/korea/trains/main.shtml The train is a product of nearly 10 years of research and development by the Korean company Rotem
and the National Rail Technology Institute of Korea.
Called the "Korean G-7" (a direct reference to Korea's ambitions of joining the technological prowess of G-7 nations) this technology is currently in its test-run phase and is scheduled for initial passenger operation through the Seoul-to-Gwangju
sector by 2007. The proposed train would run faster than the TGV, at 350 km/h as opposed to 300 km/h. The Korean G-7 incorporates several technologies the French TGV doesn't, including an aluminum body, digital traffic control, and a pressure compensation system. When operational the Korean G-7 will also allow passengers to rotate their seats, giving them the choice of a forward-facing or a rear-facing seat, in response to the many complaints about the fixed one-directional seating arrangements on the KTX.
In July 2006, the South Korean government announced their plan to develop an upgraded version of the G-7 called HEMU(Highspeed Electric Multiple Unit-400㎞/h eXperiment) train system by 2011.
Rotem
, a member of the Hyundai group, also manufactures magnetic levitation trains.http://www.rotem.co.kr/business/stock_product.asp?name=4 They were first introduced in the 1993 Daejon International Expo
.
's high-speed rail
network, running approximately 345.5 kilometres (215 mi) from Taipei
to Kaohsiung
, and began operations on January 5, 2007. Adopting Japan
's Shinkansen
technology for the core system, the THSR uses the Taiwan High Speed 700T train, manufactured by a consortium of Japanese companies, most notably Kawasaki Heavy Industries
. The total cost of the project is currently estimated to be US$15 billion, and is one of the largest privately funded transport schemes to date. Express trains capable of travelling at up to 300 kilometre per hour travel from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City in roughly 90 minutes as opposed to 4.5 hours by conventional rail, although local service THSR trains take approximately two hours when stopping at all stations en route.
On June 3, 2007, THSR served 5 million cumulative passengers, and on September 26, 2007, the 10 millionth passenger boarded. In the month of September 2007, THSRC carried 1.5 million passengers, growing further to 1.66 million in November and 2 million in December 2007, the latter translating to about 65,000 passengers daily. In the first year of operation, ending December 31, 2007, THSRC's trains were 99.47% on-time, and carried 15.55 million passengers.
Thirteen Taiwan High Speed Rail stations were planned in the western corridor, with eight stations already open in Taipei, Banciao
, Taoyuan, Hsinchu
, Taichung
, Chiayi
, Tainan
, and Zuoying. Five more stations (in Nangang, Miaoli
, Changhua
, Yunlin
, and Kaohsiung) will be built in future years.
lines in Europe
, built in the 1980s and 1990s, improved travel times on intra-national corridors. Since then, several countries have built extensive high-speed networks, and there are now several cross-border high-speed rail links. Rail operators frequently run international services, and tracks are continuously being built and upgraded to international standards on the emerging European high-speed rail network. In 2007, a consortium of European rail operators, Railteam
, emerged to coordinate and boost cross-border high-speed rail travel. Developing a Trans-European high-speed rail network
is a stated goal of the European Union
, and most cross-border rail lines receive EU funding. Today only the core countries of Western Europe are 'plugged in' to a cross-border high-speed rail network, with Russia having opened a 250 km/h line on December 26, 2008. This will change rapidly in the coming years as Europe invests heavily in tunnels, bridges and other infrastructure and development projects across the continent. The five European countries with most high-speed rail kilometres are Spain
(2,665 km), France
(1,872 km), Germany
(1,032 km), Italy
(923 km) and Russia
(780 km).
, which started in 2000, and runs between Washington, D.C.
and Boston
via New York City
. Although the Acela trainsets are capable of running up to 150 mph (241 km/h), they average around 78 mph over the entire length of the Northeast Corridor and reach their top operating speed of 150 mph only on two short segments in Rhode Island
and Massachusetts
. On average, the line is not as fast as other high-speed rail lines as it shares its tracks with lower speed passenger and freight service. Unlike other high-speed rail lines, the Northeast Corridor is the only high-speed rail line in the world with grade crossings; there are eleven such crossings between New Haven, Connecticut
and Boston, Massachusetts.
California
has made the most progress towards establishment of a "true" high-speed line; in the 2008 elections voters in the state approved a ten billion dollar bond to fund construction of an initial line running between Los Angeles
and San Francisco. The full network is planned to also include San Diego and Sacramento
. The system will run as fast as 220 mph (350 km/h) using steel wheel on steel rail technology. Maglev
propulsion was previously considered but dropped as an option in 2001. The project is being administered under the California High-Speed Rail Authority
.
Competing against California for federal funding is the Midwest High Speed Rail Initiative, involving the states of Illinois
, Indiana
, Michigan
, Minnesota
, Ohio
, and Wisconsin
. High-speed rail efforts in the Midwestern United States
focus around 220 mph trains running on dedicated lines radiating out from a central hub in Chicago. High-speed lines are proposed to serve Cleveland, Ohio
, Detroit, Michigan
, Fort Wayne, Indiana
, Grand Rapids, Michigan
, Indianapolis, Indiana
, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin
in addition to other cities throughout the region. The proposal includes 110 mph regional trains on existing rail lines that parallel the future 220 mph lines, which will serve smaller cities within the high-speed corridors. Work on the Midwest High Speed Rail Initiative is progressing with the upgrading of existing tracks and signals to expedite the establishment of 110 mph regional rail service. Environmental studies for the proposed 220 mph corridors are ongoing.
Florida
was set to go ahead with a shovel-ready high speed rail initiative in 2011 to connect Orlando and Tampa by 2015 with a train that would reach 168 mph (270 km/h), but governor Rick Scott denied the $2.4 billion in federal money in March.
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
networks, listed by country. High-speed rail is public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
by rail
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
at speeds of at least 200 km/h (125 mph) for updated track and 250 km/h (155.3 mph) or faster for new track . The article also includes any planned expansion of existing high-speed rail networks in countries that already have one. For projects or plans in countries without existing high-speed rail lines, see Planned high-speed rail by country
Planned high-speed rail by country
This article lists planned or proposed high-speed rail projects, arranged by country. Although many nations have done preliminary feasibility studies, many lines are eventually shelved or postponed due to high cost, and only a few nations of those proposing are actively building high-speed rail lines...
.
High Speed Rail by Country
The following table shows all high speed dedicated lines (speed of 250 km/h or over) in service and under construction, listed by country. Based on UIC figures (International Union of Railways), it has been updated with other sources. Since the purpose is to convey updated information with unified criteria, planned lines are not included.China
The Shanghai Maglev TrainShanghai Maglev Train
The Shanghai Maglev Train or Shanghai Transrapid is a magnetic levitation train, or maglev line that operates in Shanghai, China. It is the first commercially operated high-speed magnetic levitation line in the world...
, a turnkey
Turnkey
A turn-key or a turn-key project is a type of project that is constructed by a developer and sold or turned over to a buyer in a ready-to-use condition.-Common usage:...
Transrapid
Transrapid
Transrapid is a German high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Based on a patent from 1934, planning of the Transrapid system started in 1969. The test facility for the system in Emsland, Germany was completed in 1987...
maglev project, imported from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, is capable of an operational speed of 430 km/h and of a top speed of 501 km/h. It has connected Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Pudong International Airport since March, 2004. In April 2007, China opened several high speed rail lines between major cities, providing a network of 6,003 km, making it the world's largest high speed rail network. By 2012, China will have a 110,000 km rail network. Of that amount 13,000 km will be high speed rail, some line capable of going over 350 km/h, making CRH the largest, fastest, most technologically advanced high speed rail system in the world. However, the Maglev line has suffered from low ridership, and various expansion plans (e.g. to Hangzhou
Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Train
Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Train is a proposed maglev train line from Shanghai to Hangzhou, to be built by Germany's Transrapid consortium . Originally planned to be ready for Expo 2010, the controversial project was repeatedly delayed, with final approval being granted on August 18, 2008...
) remain stalled.
The Qinshen Passenger Railway (Qinhuangdao-Shenyang), China's first conventional high-speed line between, opened in 2003 with a maximum speed of 200 km/h (to be increased to 300 km/h). The Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail, the first in China to support 300+ km/h, opened in August 2008. The Shitai Passenger Railway (Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan) started operating on 1 April with a speed of 250 km/h. The construction of the 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai Express Railway started in April 2008; tracklaying began in July 2010. Additional lines are also under construction so that by 2015, the high-speed railway network in China will be larger than the combined length and capacity of the rest of the world.
On December 9, 2009, China test-ran the world's longest high speed railway line - the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway, which reduces the travel time for the nearly 1000 km from Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
to Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
to just over 3 hours. The maximum speed on this test run was 394 km/h. Commercial operation of Wuhan-Guangzhou High-speed railway between Guangzhou North station
Guangzhou North Railway Station
The Guangzhou North Railway Station is a railway station in Guangdong Province, China, opened in 1908. It is located in Huadu District in far northern suburbs of Guangzhou....
and Wuhan station started on December 26, 2009, at a maximum speed of 350 km/h. The last section of the railway between Guangzhou North station and Guangzhou South station was opened on January 30, 2010.
Japan
Japan might be considered the pioneer of modern high-speed railways. Pioneering modern high speed rail, it also has the most heavily travelled, and was the largest network (in km) in operation until China opened 6,000 km of high speed lines all at once in April 2007. Construction began in 1959, and in 1964, the world's first line, Tōkaidō Shinkansen opened to the public, then operating at a speed of 210 km/h. A maximum speed of 443 km/h was recorded in a test run in 1996.Japan is an extremely densely populated country: more than 70% of the land surface is mountainous and thus uninhabitable or unsuitable for road travel and parking. In fact, drivers must prove they have a parking space before they can buy a car. With such a population density, the only practical possibility for transport across the country is rail.
The recognition of the interrelationship between land development and the high-speed rail network led, in 1970, to the enactment of a law for the construction of a nationwide Shinkansen
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
railway network. By 1973, the Transport Minister
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Japan)
The , or , is the Cabinet of Japan member in charge of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Takeshi Maeda is the current minister.-External links:*...
approved construction plans for five additional lines and basic plans for twelve others. Despite the approval, financial considerations intervened; the cost of the five lines (five trillion yen, or roughly 18 billion U.S. dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
at the 1973 exchange rate), combined with the oil shock and the recession of the 1970s and early 1980s resulted in some lines being cancelled and others delayed until 1982.
The hosting of the 1998 Winter Olympics
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...
in Nagano
Nagano, Nagano
, the capital city of Nagano Prefecture, is located in the northern part of the prefecture near the confluence of the Chikuma and the Sai rivers, on the main Japanese island of Honshū.As of April 1, 2011 the city has a population of 387,146...
provided Japan with a valuable opportunity to showcase its technological skills with the opening of a new rail line extension, the Nagano Shinkansen
Nagano Shinkansen
The is a Shinkansen high-speed rail line operated by East Japan Railway Company between Takasaki and Nagano in Japan. It opened on 1 October 1997, connecting Tokyo and Nagano in time for the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano...
from Tokyo to Nagano.
The national rail system (JNR), which included Shinkansen was broken up and privatized beginning in 1987 with the aim of more efficient and profitable operations in the passenger rail sector. Incremental improvements to the high-speed rail technology are being undertaken, and the network continues to be expanded. Tilting trains have been introduced to take curves faster; meanwhile, aerodynamic redesigns, stronger engines and lighter materials, air brakes
Air brake (rail)
An air brake is a conveyance braking system actuated by compressed air. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on March 5, 1872. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company was subsequently organized to manufacture and sell...
, typhoon and earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
precautions, and track upgrades are among the developments. As a result of improvements, the travel time from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka
Shin-Osaka Station
is a train station in Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is the western terminus of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, and the eastern terminus of the Sanyō Shinkansen. The lines are physically joined, and many trains offer through service....
(the first route opened) has decreased from 4 hours in 1964 to 2 hours 25 minutes in 2007.
A Japanese consortium led by the Central Japan Railway Company
Central Japan Railway Company
The is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as . Its headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.The company's operational hub is Nagoya Station...
have been researching new high-speed rail systems based on magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation, maglev, or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields...
since the 1970s. Although the trains and guideways are technologically ready and over 100,000 people have ridden them, high costs remains as barriers. Test trains JR-Maglev MLX01
JR-Maglev
JR-Maglev is a magnetic levitation train system developed by the Central Japan Railway Company and Railway Technical Research Institute . JR-Maglev MLX01 is one of the latest designs of a series of Maglev trains in development in Japan since the 1970s...
on the Yamanashi
Yamanashi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Kōfu.-Pre-history to the 14th century:People have been living in the Yamanashi area for about 30,000 years...
Test Line have reached speeds of 581 km/h (crewed), making them the fastest trains in the world. These new maglev trains are intended to be deployed on new Tokyo–Osaka Shinkansen maglev route, called the Chuo Shinkansen
Chuo Shinkansen
The is a planned maglev line connecting Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Japan. The only part of the line that exists is the Yamanashi test track, which is currently being extended from 18.4 km to 42.8 km. The line is proposed to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in the first stage in 40 minutes, and eventually...
. On May 2011, JR West announced the company will start operation of maglev route from 2027 between Tokyo–Nagoya followed by Nagoya–Osaka route by 2045. Projected travel time for Tokyo–Nagoya (286km) is 40 minutes.
South Korea
South Korean KTXKorea Train Express
Korea Train eXpress is South Korea's high-speed rail system, operated by Korail. Construction began on the first section of the high-speed line from Seoul to Busan in 1992. The project was later split into two phases and combined with conventional line upgrades, adding a second route from Seoul to...
high-speed rail, which runs on a dedicated line, became operational in April 2004, and was the third nation outside Western Europe to have high speed intercity service, after Japan and the US. The maximum speed of the KTX, which derives its technology directly from France's Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
TGV, is 300 km/h. A journey from Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
to Daejeon
Daejeon
Daejeon is South Korea's fifth largest metropolis and the provincial capital of Chungnam. Located in the center of the country, Daejeon had a population of over 1.5 million in 2010. It is at the crossroads of Gyeongbu railway, Honam railway, Gyeongbu Expressway, and Honam Expressway. Within the...
that previously took around 90 to 120 minutes now takes only 49, and the time from Daejeon
Daejeon
Daejeon is South Korea's fifth largest metropolis and the provincial capital of Chungnam. Located in the center of the country, Daejeon had a population of over 1.5 million in 2010. It is at the crossroads of Gyeongbu railway, Honam railway, Gyeongbu Expressway, and Honam Expressway. Within the...
to Daegu
Daegu
Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...
(Dongdaegu St.) has been similarly reduced. Passengers can save up to 2 hours on journeys from Seoul to Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
. Since service began, there have been many complaints about the trainsets, citing general discomfort, together with seating that faces opposite the direction of travel. However, rail demand rose 25% in the second three months of service (April–June 2004). Rail revenue in general increased more than 91% from the previous year with 33% more seats offered. Recent observations indicate a growth trend and increasing public acceptance of the service. Daily ridership is now in the range of 85,000 passengers. Diversions from other modes show wide variability, according to customer surveys. KTX enticed 56% from existing rail services, 17% from air, 15% from express buses, and 12% from highways.
With the development of the HSR-350x
HSR-350x
HSR-350x, alternatively called G7, KHST or NG-KTX, and later officially re-named Hanvit 350, is a South Korean experimental high-speed train. It was developed and built in a joint project of government research institutes, universities and private companies that started in 1996, which aimed to...
, South Korean media argue that Korea came to be the fourth nation to develop high-speed rail independently, and the seventh nation to acquire the technology. However, the statistics should vary according to the multiple definitions of a high speed rail. The "High Speed Rail 350x" went under development by South Korean engineers several years before the French technology-transfer program. http://www.cityglance.org/asia/korea/trains/main.shtml The train is a product of nearly 10 years of research and development by the Korean company Rotem
Rotem
Hyundai Rotem is a South Korean company manufacturing rolling stock, defense products and plant equipment. It is part of the Hyundai Motor Group...
and the National Rail Technology Institute of Korea.
Called the "Korean G-7" (a direct reference to Korea's ambitions of joining the technological prowess of G-7 nations) this technology is currently in its test-run phase and is scheduled for initial passenger operation through the Seoul-to-Gwangju
Gwangju
Gwangju is the sixth largest city in South Korea. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister...
sector by 2007. The proposed train would run faster than the TGV, at 350 km/h as opposed to 300 km/h. The Korean G-7 incorporates several technologies the French TGV doesn't, including an aluminum body, digital traffic control, and a pressure compensation system. When operational the Korean G-7 will also allow passengers to rotate their seats, giving them the choice of a forward-facing or a rear-facing seat, in response to the many complaints about the fixed one-directional seating arrangements on the KTX.
In July 2006, the South Korean government announced their plan to develop an upgraded version of the G-7 called HEMU(Highspeed Electric Multiple Unit-400㎞/h eXperiment) train system by 2011.
Rotem
Rotem
Hyundai Rotem is a South Korean company manufacturing rolling stock, defense products and plant equipment. It is part of the Hyundai Motor Group...
, a member of the Hyundai group, also manufactures magnetic levitation trains.http://www.rotem.co.kr/business/stock_product.asp?name=4 They were first introduced in the 1993 Daejon International Expo
Taejon Expo '93
Taejon Expo '93 was a three-month international exposition held between Saturday, August 7, 1993 and Sunday, November 7, 1993 in the central South Korean city of Daejeon .-Theme:...
.
Taiwan
Taiwan High Speed Rail, also known as the THSR, is TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
's high-speed rail
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
network, running approximately 345.5 kilometres (215 mi) from Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
to Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
, and began operations on January 5, 2007. Adopting Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's Shinkansen
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
technology for the core system, the THSR uses the Taiwan High Speed 700T train, manufactured by a consortium of Japanese companies, most notably Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
. The total cost of the project is currently estimated to be US$15 billion, and is one of the largest privately funded transport schemes to date. Express trains capable of travelling at up to 300 kilometre per hour travel from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City in roughly 90 minutes as opposed to 4.5 hours by conventional rail, although local service THSR trains take approximately two hours when stopping at all stations en route.
On June 3, 2007, THSR served 5 million cumulative passengers, and on September 26, 2007, the 10 millionth passenger boarded. In the month of September 2007, THSRC carried 1.5 million passengers, growing further to 1.66 million in November and 2 million in December 2007, the latter translating to about 65,000 passengers daily. In the first year of operation, ending December 31, 2007, THSRC's trains were 99.47% on-time, and carried 15.55 million passengers.
Thirteen Taiwan High Speed Rail stations were planned in the western corridor, with eight stations already open in Taipei, Banciao
Banqiao District
Banqiao District is the city seat of New Taipei in northern Taiwan . It has the third highest population density in Taiwan. It was formerly the 22nd densest city in the world, with over 24,000 people per square km...
, Taoyuan, Hsinchu
Hsinchu
Hsinchu City is a city in northern Taiwan. Hsinchu is popularly nicknamed "The Windy City" for its windy climate.Hsinchu City is administered as a special municipality within Taiwan . The city is bordered by Hsinchu County to the north and east, Miaoli County to the south, and the Taiwan Strait...
, Taichung
Taichung
-Demographics:Taichung’s population was an estimated 1,040,725 in August 2006. There are slightly more females in the city than males.24.32% of residents are children, while 16.63% are young people, 52.68% are middle-age, and 6.73% are elderly....
, Chiayi
Chiayi
-Administration:-City attractions:*Chiayi Park*Sun Shooting Tower *Lantan *Historic Archives Building of Chiayi City*University of Chiayi*Chiayi Museum...
, Tainan
Tainan
Tainan City is a city in southern Taiwan. It is the fifth largest after New Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Taipei. It was formerly a provincial city, and in 2010, the provincial city merged with the adjacent Tainan County to form a single special municipality. Tainan faces the Taiwan Strait in...
, and Zuoying. Five more stations (in Nangang, Miaoli
Miaoli City
Miaoli City is the capital of Miaoli County, Taiwan. Its name Miaoli was coined using two Hakka words, cat and city , which phonetically approximate Pali from one of the Formosan languages. Miaoli has a relatively high percentage of Hakka people. As of 2009, the population was 90,209....
, Changhua
Changhua City
Changhua City is the county seat of Changhua County in Taiwan. For many centuries the site was home to a settlement of Babuza people, a coastal tribe of Taiwanese aborigines. The name of the city is derived from the aboriginal word Poasoa .Changhua is best known for its landmark statue of the Buddha...
, Yunlin
Yunlin County
Yunlin County is a county in the western part of Taiwan, the Republic of China. Yunlin is located to the right of the Taiwan Strait, the east of Nantou County and sharing a border with Changhua County divided by the Zhuoshui River. Yunlin is one of the counties of Taiwan that is part of the Chianan...
, and Kaohsiung) will be built in future years.
Europe
High-speed rail is emerging in Europe as an increasingly popular and efficient means of transportation. The first high-speed railHigh-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
lines in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, built in the 1980s and 1990s, improved travel times on intra-national corridors. Since then, several countries have built extensive high-speed networks, and there are now several cross-border high-speed rail links. Rail operators frequently run international services, and tracks are continuously being built and upgraded to international standards on the emerging European high-speed rail network. In 2007, a consortium of European rail operators, Railteam
Railteam
Railteam is an alliance of seven European high-speed rail operators. The aim of the group is to offer integrated high-speed rail travel between major European cities and to compete with airlines on punctuality, environment, pricing and speed. Coordinated departures are intended to give consistent...
, emerged to coordinate and boost cross-border high-speed rail travel. Developing a Trans-European high-speed rail network
Trans-European high-speed rail network
The Trans-European high-speed rail network , together with the Trans-European conventional rail network, make up the Trans-European Rail network, which in turn is one of a number of the European Union's Trans-European transport networks...
is a stated goal of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, and most cross-border rail lines receive EU funding. Today only the core countries of Western Europe are 'plugged in' to a cross-border high-speed rail network, with Russia having opened a 250 km/h line on December 26, 2008. This will change rapidly in the coming years as Europe invests heavily in tunnels, bridges and other infrastructure and development projects across the continent. The five European countries with most high-speed rail kilometres are Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(2,665 km), France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(1,872 km), Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(1,032 km), Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(923 km) and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(780 km).
United States
The United States currently has only one high-speed rail line in operation, the Acela ExpressAcela Express
The Acela Express is Amtrak's high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York...
, which started in 2000, and runs between Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
via New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Although the Acela trainsets are capable of running up to 150 mph (241 km/h), they average around 78 mph over the entire length of the Northeast Corridor and reach their top operating speed of 150 mph only on two short segments in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. On average, the line is not as fast as other high-speed rail lines as it shares its tracks with lower speed passenger and freight service. Unlike other high-speed rail lines, the Northeast Corridor is the only high-speed rail line in the world with grade crossings; there are eleven such crossings between New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
and Boston, Massachusetts.
California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
has made the most progress towards establishment of a "true" high-speed line; in the 2008 elections voters in the state approved a ten billion dollar bond to fund construction of an initial line running between Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Francisco. The full network is planned to also include San Diego and Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
. The system will run as fast as 220 mph (350 km/h) using steel wheel on steel rail technology. Maglev
Maglev train
Maglev , is a system of transportation that uses magnetic levitation to suspend, guide and propel vehicles from magnets rather than using mechanical methods, such as friction-reliant wheels, axles and bearings...
propulsion was previously considered but dropped as an option in 2001. The project is being administered under the California High-Speed Rail Authority
California high-speed rail
The California High-Speed Rail project is a planned future high-speed rail system in the state of California and headed by the California High-Speed Rail Authority . Initial funding for the project was approved by California voters on November 4, 2008, with the passage of Proposition 1A...
.
Competing against California for federal funding is the Midwest High Speed Rail Initiative, involving the states of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. High-speed rail efforts in the Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
focus around 220 mph trains running on dedicated lines radiating out from a central hub in Chicago. High-speed lines are proposed to serve Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
in addition to other cities throughout the region. The proposal includes 110 mph regional trains on existing rail lines that parallel the future 220 mph lines, which will serve smaller cities within the high-speed corridors. Work on the Midwest High Speed Rail Initiative is progressing with the upgrading of existing tracks and signals to expedite the establishment of 110 mph regional rail service. Environmental studies for the proposed 220 mph corridors are ongoing.
Florida
Florida High Speed Rail
Florida High Speed Rail was a proposed high-speed rail project in the U.S. state of Florida. Initial service would have run between the cities of Tampa and Orlando, with plans to then extend service to South Florida, terminating in Miami. Trains with a top speed of to would have run on dedicated...
was set to go ahead with a shovel-ready high speed rail initiative in 2011 to connect Orlando and Tampa by 2015 with a train that would reach 168 mph (270 km/h), but governor Rick Scott denied the $2.4 billion in federal money in March.
External links
- World HSR lines may 2010 International Union of Railways