The longest high-speed railway lines in the world
Six of the ten longest high-speed lines in the world are in China, while the remaining four are in Spain, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom. Railway-technology.com profiles the world’s longest high-speed lines by their operating length as of 2013.
Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway, China
China’s Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway, opened in December 2012, is currently the world’s longest high-speed railway with a total length of 2,298 km. The line, also known as Jingguang HSR, has reduced the travel time between Beijing and Guangzhou to just eight hours, compared to the previous journey of 22 hours.
The HSR line is operated with CRH380-AL trains designed for a maximum speed of 350 km/h and consists of four sections: Beijing-Shijiazhuang-Zhengzhou (693 km), Zhengzhou-Wuhan (536 km), Wuhan-Guangzhou (968 km) and Guangzhou-Shenzhen (102 km). ).
The high-speed line crosses the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong, connecting 28 major Chinese cities and 35 stations along the route. It also provides connections to other high-speed lines, including the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan HSR, Zhengzhou-Xi’an HSR, Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu HSR and the Guangzhou-Zhuhai HSR.
Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu high-speed railway, China
The Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu High-Speed Rail Line, or Huhanrong HSR, in China is currently the second-longest high-speed rail line in the world. At the end of 2013, the operational length of this major east-west high-speed corridor in China reached 1,814 kilometers. Construction of the remaining 264 km Chongqing-Lichuan section is expected to be completed in 2014.
The HSR will run through four provinces and two municipalities, connecting the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu when fully commissioned. The line consists of seven sections, including the 301 km Shanghai-Nanjing section that shares the line with the Beijing-Shanghai HSR.
The operational speed of trains running on the Huhanrong HSR varies between 200 km/h and 250 km/h; however, the Shanghai-Nanjing section is designed for speeds up to 350 km/h. The high-speed line, designed for both mixed passenger and freight services, is expected to reduce travel time between Shanghai and Chongqing to ten hours, compared to the 27 hours currently traveled on conventional rail.
Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, China
The 1,318 km Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, also known as Jinghu HSR, is the third longest high-speed railway in the world and the longest high-speed railway to be constructed in a single phase. Construction started in 2008 and the line was put into service in 2011.
The high-speed railway runs through the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu in China and includes 24 stations along the route connecting major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. The HSR also provides connections to other high-speed lines such as the Beijing-Harbin HSR, Qingdao-Taiyuan HSR, Xuzhou-Lanzhou HSR and Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu HSR. The HSR also connects Hefei to the 131 km Bengbu-Hefei high-speed railway line.
The Jinghu HSR is operated with more than 90 CRH trains and has reduced the travel time between Beijing and Shanghai to 4.48 hours. The total investment in the high-speed railway project has reached RMB220 billion ($36,108 million).
Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen high-speed railway, China
China’s Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen High-Speed Railway, also known as the Hangfushen HSR, has an operational route length of 993 km and is the world’s fourth longest high-speed railway. It will eventually connect the Yangtze River Delta on the East China Sea and the Pearl River Delta on the South China Sea when the entire route is operational.
The Hangfushen HSR is a two-track, electrified high-speed rail line being developed along the southeastern coast of China. The line, which is part of the larger HSR corridor on the southeast coast, passes through three coastal provinces: Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. The operational speed of the Hangfushen HSR varies between 250 km/h and 350 km/h.
The four operational sections of the line include the 152 km Hangzhou-Ningbo section, the 268 km Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou section, the 298 km Wenzhou-Fuzhou section and the 275 km Fuzhou-Xiamen section. The last and longest section of the HSR, the 502 km Xiamen-Shenzhen high-speed rail line, is expected to enter service in 2014.
Beijing-Harbin high-speed railway, China
The Beijing-Harbin High-Speed Railway, or Jingha HSR, the main high-speed corridor in northeastern China, also has an operational route length of 993 km, making it the fourth longest high-speed railway in the world. However, when the 684 km Beijing-Shenyang section comes into service in 2014, it will eventually surpass the Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen high-speed line in length.
The completed sections of the Beijing-Harbin HSR Line include the 904 km Harbin-Dalian Line and the 89 km Panjin-Yingkou Line. The HSR will largely run parallel to the existing Beijing-Harbin conventional railway line. The new line will reduce travel time between Beijing and Harbin by about four hours, compared to the nine hours currently traveled on conventional rail.
The HSR is designed to reach speeds of up to 350 km/h; However, the normal operating speed is 300 km/h, which is reduced to 200 km/h during the winter season. The lines are specially designed to withstand extreme temperatures, ranging from below -40°C in winter to above 40°C in summer.
High-speed line Madrid-Barcelona-French border, Spain
The Spanish high-speed line Madrid-Barcelona-French border, which covers a total of 804 km, is the fifth longest high-speed line in the world. The line was constructed in five phases and became fully operational in January 2013.
The 442 km Madrid-Lleida section opened in October 2003, the 78 km Lleida-Tarragona section in December 2006, the 100 km Tarragona-Barcelona section in February 2008, the 44.4 km Perpignan-Figueres section in December 2010, and the 150 kilometer long route between Barcelona and Figueres (French border). ) section in January 2013.
Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) trains, which reach speeds of 350 km/h on 86% of the route, are operated by RENFE. The journey time from Madrid and Barcelona via the high-speed line is 2.38 hours.
Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed railway, Japan
The Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed line, which is part of the Shinkansen high-speed rail network in Japan, is the sixth longest high-speed rail line in the world. The 675.92 kilometer long high-speed Tohoku Shinkansen line was built between 1971 and 1982 and runs between the capital Tokyo and Shin-Aomori.
The line is currently serviced by Shinkansen high-speed trains of the E2, E3, E5 and E6 series, with an operating speed of 320 km/h. A Maglev train reached a world record maximum speed of 581 km/h on the Tohoku Shinkansen HSR line in 2003.
Since June 2012, more than 1.93 billion passengers have used the high-speed line. East Japan Railway Company (JR East) is currently expanding the line to convert certain sections to double track by March 2016.
High-speed railway line Moscow-Saint-Petersburg, Russia
The Moscow-Saint Petersburg high-speed line is the seventh longest high-speed line in the world, with a length of approximately 650 km. The Russian Railway originally opened in 1851 and upgraded for high-speed rail in 2009.
The line is operated by Oktyabrskaya Railway, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, and served by Siemens Velaro RUS (Sapsan) trains and the RVR-built ER200 electric trains. It has reduced the travel time from Moscow to St Petersburg to three and a half hours driving at an operating speed of 250 km/h.
The line passes through Moscow, Tver, Novgorod and Leningrad Oblasts and includes the main stations in Klin, Redkino, Tver, Likhoslavl, Kalashnikovo, Vyshny Volochyok, Bologoye, Okulovka, Luka, Malaya Vishera, Chudovo, Lyuban and Tosno. A parallel high-speed line with a length of 660 km is planned along the route, allowing trains to travel at a top speed of 400 km/h.
West Coast Main Line, United Kingdom
The West Coast Main Line (WCML), also known as the Premier Line, in Great Britain is currently the eighth longest high-speed line in the world. Owned and operated by Network Rail, the 645.35km line stretches from London to Glasgow and offers significant differences to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.
The line originally opened in 1849 and witnessed an £8.8 billion ($14.3 billion) upgrade in 2008, called the West Coast Route Modernization (WCRM) programme, bringing high-speed operations with a maximum speed of 225 km / u became possible.
The rolling stock operated on the line includes 53 fixed-formation Class 390 Pendolino electric tilting trains, operated by Virgin Trains. WCML is currently the busiest mixed-use railway line in Britain. It is used by several operators and accounts for 43% of UK freight traffic.
Xiangtang-Putian Railway, China
The Xiangtang-Putian High-Speed Railway in China, also known as the Xiangpu HSR, is the ninth longest high-speed railway in the world. Construction of the high-speed line, which is approximately 632 km long, started in 2008 and the line opened in September 2012. The speed of the trains on the line is 250 km/h.
The line extends from Xiangtang Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, to Putian and Fuzhou in Fujian province. The travel time from Nanchang to Fuzhou has been reduced to 3.5 hours from the original 11 hours. The route includes 22 stations and passes through seven districts and provinces in the two provinces.
The HSR offers both passenger and freight services and uses ten CRH2A EMUs supplied by CSR Qingdao Sifang and five CRH1 EMUs supplied by Bombardier Sifang.
“The Longest High-Speed Rail Lines in the World” was originally created and published by Railway Technology, a brand owned by GlobalData.
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