High-Speed Rail in China and California [VIDEOS]

November 5th, 2010 by Zachary Shahan

High-speed rail visualization from the video at the bottom of this post.

Unfortunately, huge high-speed rail (HSR) projects take time to get built and there isn’t always a lot of big news to share on this topic. But with more and more high-speed rail projects around the world (e.g. in the U.S.), there’s more news coming out more regularly now.

China is steaming ahead with continual expansion of what is already the largest high-speed rail network in the world and recently opened up a new 220-km line between Shanghai and Hangzhou. Not only that, but running on this new line is the fastest train in the world.

In test runs, the train (in the video below) was reportedly clocked going over 416.6 kph (258.86 mph), setting a new world record.

With this most recent expansion of China’s high-speed rail network, it’s total length is now up to 7431 kilometers (4617 miles).

It’s anticipated that by 2020, 90% of China’s population will have access to high-speed rail. (And remember, China isn’t stopping there, but wants to connect its high-speed rail network to 17 other countries, all the way to London, England — the largest infrastructure project in the world.)

Now, even though I don’t live in the U.S. anymore, every time I see news of China’s amazing high-speed rail network, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that the U.S. is so far behind in this field. Luckily, a friend of mine from graduate school (if you are not aware of this, I have a Master’s in city and regional planning) sent me a new video on California’s proposed high-speed rail network, a project she is working on.

Watch the full video below for a lot more info on that and some cool visualizations of the network.

Here are some highlights I pulled out of the video:

People will be able to travel from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 2.5 hours on the network.
Trains will go up to 220 mph, close to the fastest trains in the world (but yes, not as fast as the new record-holder in China).
600 thousand construction jobs and 450 thousand (additional) permanent jobs will be created from the California high-speed rail project.
This will be the largest public works project in California in 50 years.
High-speed rail uses 1/3 the energy per passenger of airplanes, 1/5 the energy per passenger of automobiles.

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Tags: California, california high-speed rail, China, fastest train, fastest trains, high-speed train

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

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Jeff

Man, the video for the Chinese high-speed train looks so much more realistic than the one for California… Oh wait…
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  Haha, nice
  
  yes it does
Jesse Williams

I don’t understand why they keep saying China has the high speed world record with 400 km/h because the TGV in France set the record in 2007 at 574.8 km/h.

Here’s video of it:
- Jesse
  
  Self edit:
  
  I found on wikipedia that the 416.6 km/h record set in china is the current world record holder for unmodified commercial trainset. Of course this is still not it’s normal operational speed.
  - http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
    
    thanks for digging that info up. i was shocked with the initial video that you shared. it seems to get a little hazy with these records & see a lot of different claims.
    - Jesse
      
      By the way everything is succinctly listed here:
      
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail#Maximum_speed_records
      - http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
        
        thanks, Jesse. yes, that last record is the one mentioned in the article above. i slipped and left out the rather important word “over” in this article (am going in to fix that now).. for some reason, i have it in the first article i wrote on this subject (linked above) but left it out in this one — not sure how that happened.
        
        nonetheless, your info brings up the point that such statements should probably be qualified with more technical or specific language such as “unmodified commercial trainset”
        
        Thank You
Charles

I’m enthusiastic about rail. Streetcars, Trains, even trollies (bus like vehicles with overhead power & return lines). No wonder that I’m for such mode of transportation.

Unless we modify our living concept away from the cul-de-sac communities, and build around an identifiable, walkable town center, I see no desire on the part of most Americans to go for new, extensive, even hi speed rail travel.

New concept living communities rail connection could be established. Technically not a problem. Politically and from the aspect of right of way this idea may not be feasible or may be unsurmountable.
hehe

HSR in California is a day dream, California Dream!
In USA, they even can’t build a railway tunnel between New Jersey and New York, how can you expect them to build a HSR? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may be interested with HSR but the next governor will kill the project just like Governor Chris Christie did! As a friend, I think you better advise your friend be prepared to lose her job very soon.
Roger L

Hey Zach: Maybe you can concentrate on how long it is going to take to put the California High Speed Rail line in service, many years. Maybe then you can detail the clear differences and advantages that the Chinese have in getting projects such as this completed (environmental rules, right of ways etc)vs what can normally be accomplished in the US, especially in highly regulated California. Additionally, you might then be able to digest current discussion in the San Gabriel Valley (East of Los Angeles)(where I live) where many communities are just not sure they WANT the High speed rail line running through their cities. This is not to say everyone is opposed, but I can tell you THERE is NOT overwhelming community support for the proposed line. Additionally, recent press reports seem to downplay the overly generous projections of the High Speed Rail Authority on passenger loads and costs for travel as being very high and low ball on the actual ticket costs that will occur.
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  Roger, I am intending to come back to this in a full post — there is a lot to cover here
http://www.energynow.com Mike

I live in northern Virginia and work in downtown DC but all my family lives in the Delaware area. When I want to visit, it’s only two hours away but driving really takes it toll! I’ve taken Amtrak once and its was great except it cost $88 one way. Driving proves to be cheaper and that’s currently my focus.

It makes me really wish we invested more in rail than highways, every other country seems to be doing very well with with rail system. Less congestion on roads, I can sleep or read during my travel/commute, shorter travel time… There are just so many benefits!

If this rail plan takes off in CA, I can only hope the North East would be soon to follow. Thanks for the article!
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  Mike, thanks a lot for your input. I didn’t ride Amtrak for a long time because I heard how horrible it was. Finally rode it & discovered it was super comfy and convenient. Of course, shorter travel times & lower prices would be nice, but as you implied, could have had them if we invested in it when everyone else was. Even now, there is so much opposition to building a 21st century rail system instead of building more roads that will just get clogged and cause more headaches, stress, health problems, environmental problems, and economic losses