1. Introduction 1.1 HIGH SPEED RAIL IN CHINA High speed rail (HSR), which is primarily designed for passenger transport with an operating speed of 250 km/h or higher, has experienced unprec- edented development in China since the early 2000s. Unlike the gradual developmental patterns as experienced in Japan and Europe, the Chinese approach to HSR development could be considered a revolution given the scale of the system and the speed of deployment. There is nothing compara- ble in terms of expansion rates worldwide (Chen and Haynes, 2015). During the 2004–16 period, the total track length of HSR with a dedicated right-of- way design for passenger transport reached more than 22,000 km. Over 425 newly built HSR stations were constructed and more than 1,000 HSR train sets were deployed. To date, the connected HSR networks serve over 500 cities among more than 28 provinces, benefiting billions of people a year. The development of HSR in China was motivated by both socioeco- nomic and political factors. Rail travel demand had increased dramatically since the implementation of the opening up policy in 1978. This was due to rapid population growth and expansion of the national economy. Such an expansion generated regional migration as a result of the increased regional economic inequality between inland and coastal areas and urban and rural areas. Travel demand growth was stimulated by the rapid growth in the Chinese economy. From 2004 to 2012, passenger rail travel increased by more than 70 percent, from 1.11 billion in 2004 to 1.89 billion in 2012. Such rapid growth exceeded the corresponding capacities of existing passenger rail services. This led to critical social challenges, such as ticket scarcity and overcrowding especially during peak travel seasons. The lim- ited capacities of rail infrastructure networks also constrained the services of freight transport which were operated on the same track system. In turn, this led to a continuous decline of the market share of freight trans- port and increasing competition from trucks due to a substitution effect. Transportation bottlenecks were the result. The development of HSR thus became the solution to not only address the imbalance issue between the supply and demand for passenger rail transport, but it also helped enlarge the capacities of the existing rail networks for freight transport. 1 Zhenhua Chen, Kingsley E. Haynes, Yulong Zhou and Zhaoxin Dai - 9781785366048 Downloaded from Elgar Online at 10/01/2021 04:36:59PM via free access CHEN_9781785366031_t.indd 1 28/02/2019 14:48 2 High speed rail and China’s new economic geography The speedy deployment of HSR in China is also attributed to political influences in the process of infrastructure planning, financing, construc- tion and marketing. With strong political support from the central gov- ernment, socioeconomic resources were allocated rapidly toward central government’s primary objective of HSR development. This was expressed through both administrative regulation and economic intervention. For instance, under the principle of “exchanging market for technology,” the research and development (R&D) capabilities and manufacturing skills of the Chinese domestic rail sector were advanced through collaboration with leading HSR countries, including Japan, France and Germany. Instead of depending on a single technology type, various HSR technologies, including the Japanese Shinkansen, the French TGV and the German ICE, were acquired, renovated, improved and integrated into the design for the Chinese system, along with environmental and technical standards. In addition, with credit endorsement from the central, provincial and municipal governments, HSR projects were financed rapidly through direct central government payments and subsidies and later through railway bonds from national public sector entities as well as bank loans from domestic commercial banks at relatively low cost (Chen and Haynes, 2016). Although the early endeavors of R&D for HSR in China can be traced back to the 1980s, the formal development of HSR was not initiated until 2004 following the enunciation and full implementation of the national rail development strategy, known as the “Mid- and Long-Term Railway Network Plan.” For the first time, a concrete development plan for HSR in China was established. The strategy outlined detailed planning and policy plans for rail infrastructure network expansion, facilitated by rail upgrad- ing as well as rail technology improvement. The HSR networks have experienced rapid expansion in recent decades. The National Development and Reform Commission of China further revised and updated the Plan in 2008 and 2016, respectively, to promote the continuous expansion of the national rail infrastructure network. As summarized in Table 1.1, these strategies outline planning goals and objectives for rail infrastructure development at both the national and regional levels. One of the key features in these strategies is the development of an interconnected HSR network to facilitate intercity passenger travel. These HSR systems were expected to be more advanced than the conventional passenger rail system because most train sets are designed with a capacity of operating at a speed of 250 km/h or higher. In addition, the HSR systems would be designed to provide a better travel experience than conventional rail in terms of on-time performance, amenity, safety and service frequency (Givoni and Banister, 2012). The systems were also expected to alleviate the imbalance Zhenhua Chen, Kingsley E. Haynes, Yulong Zhou and Zhaoxin Dai - 9781785366048 Downloaded from Elgar Online at 10/01/2021 04:36:59PM via free access CHEN_9781785366031_t.indd 2 28/02/2019 14:48 Introduction 3 Table 1.1 Mid- and long-term rail network planning strategies in China Planning 2004 Planning 2008 Planning 2016 Planning Content Strategy Strategy Strategy Period 2003–20 2008–20 2016–25 and 2030 Expected 100 000 km 120 000 km 175 000 km total track length Track length 12 000 km 16 000 km 38 000 km of HSR Key features Separate passenger Build 4 east-west Develop 8 east-west of the and freight traffic bound and 4 north- bound and 8 north- planning for trunk rail lines; south bound HSR south bound HSR strategy improve the rates of trunk lines with a trunk lines; operating double-track and focus on developed speed should be 250 electrification to regions with high km/h or above (HSR 50%; build 4 east- population density; connecting major west bound and 4 build intercity rail cities can be 350 north-south bound systems for a major km/h, regional HSR HSR trunk lines; megalopolis; expand connectors can be operating speed of rail networks in the 250 km/h, intercity HSR should be 200 underdeveloped west rail can be 200 km/h) km/h or above regions Source: Authors’ collection. between demand and supply for both freight and passenger rail transport (Chen and Haynes, 2015). HSR development in China is so enormous in terms of both the scale of the system and the speed of deployment that no HSR systems in other countries are comparable. As shown in Figure 1.1, the ridership kept growing as more HSRs were deployed in operation. The annual ridership of passenger rail travel reached 1.44 billion in 2016, an increase of 22 times its initial level over a decade ago. On the supply side, the rail network was also expanded considerably. For instance, the total rail track in operation reached 124,000 km by the end of 2016, which includes 22,000 km of HSR nationwide. The geographic distribution of the planned HSR network in China is illustrated in Figure 1.2. According to the “13th Five-Year Plan for Railway Development,” the total rail infrastructure network will be expanded to 150,000 km by 2020. The HSR network is expected to reach 30,000 km covering more than 80 percent of China’s major cities. By 2025, the objective is to further expand the national rail network to 175,000 km, Zhenhua Chen, Kingsley E. Haynes, Yulong Zhou and Zhaoxin Dai - 9781785366048 Downloaded from Elgar Online at 10/01/2021 04:36:59PM via free access CHEN_9781785366031_t.indd 3 28/02/2019 14:48 4 High speed rail and China’s new economic geography 1,600 25 Ridership 1,400 HSR Length 20 1,200 1,000 15 800 600 10 400 Ridership (millions of people) 5 200 HSR Track Length (thousands of km) 0 0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Source: Authors’ collection from the Railway Corporation of China. Figure 1.1 Evolution of high speed rail ridership and track length in China including 38,000 km of HSR. The completed HSR system is expected to connect all the major megalopolises, provincial capital cities and other major and medium cities with a population of over 500,000 by 2030. Travel time between the neighboring major cities by HSR would be approximately one to four hours, whereas travel time within each megalopolis is expected to be 0.5 to two hours. The planning infrastructure of the HSR system in China can be classi- fied into the following three categories given the functional and technical specifications of the different systems: a national HSR trunk line system, a regional HSR system and an intercity HSR system that operate within different metropolitan areas. 1.1.1 National HSR Trunk Line The national HSR trunk line system serves as the main line connect- ing major cities through eight vertical (north–south bound) and eight horizontal (east–west bound) HSR passageways (Table 1.2). The system will be developed through extending the established four vertical and four horizontal HSR lines to connect all the dense regions in China. One salient feature of the system is that the new planned HSR main lines will be designed as passenger-dedicated lines (PDLs) with an operating speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) or above.