Korean media: The highest speed of South Korean high-speed rail is 305 km/h, while China is about to enter the "400 km/h era"!

On August 28, the Korean media "Today's Finance" published an article stating that not long ago, the 12th World High-Speed Rail Conference was held in Beijing, China. This conference was held again in China after 15 years since 2010, and it has attracted widespread attention locally.

Over 2,000 people attended this conference, including professionals in the railway industry, government officials, and members of the International Union of Railways. China demonstrated the high-speed train "Fuxing CR450" being developed at the China National Railway Testing Center to the participants, showing confidence.

The CR450 high-speed rail, which will be put into operation next year, has a maximum speed of 450 km/h and an operating speed of 400 km/h. The CR400 high-speed rail was put into operation in China in 2017 with an operating speed of 350 km/h. After the full operation of the CR450 high-speed rail in the future, the travel time on the current Beijing-Shanghai section (1,318 km) will be reduced from 4 hours and 30 minutes to 3 hours and 30 minutes.

As of the end of last year, the operating mileage of China's high-speed rail reached 48,000 kilometers, accounting for more than 70% of the world's high-speed rail operating mileage. The "Medium- and Long-Term Railway Network Plan" announced in 2016 proposed that by 2030, the operating mileage of high-speed rail would increase to 45,000 kilometers, and the target was exceeded last year.

In 2008, the operating mileage of China's high-speed rail was only 671 kilometers. However, since the comprehensive implementation of the "Four Verticals and Four Horizontals" high-speed rail network plan across the continent in 2009, the operating mileage of high-speed rail has grown rapidly. After achieving the original target ahead of schedule, China expanded the "Four Verticals and Four Horizontals" to "Eight Verticals and Eight Horizontals" in the "Medium- and Long-Term Railway Network Plan" released in 2016, planning 16 high-speed rail lines that span the country, covering cities with a population of over 500,000.

Currently, China's high-speed rail has developed to a level surpassing developed countries such as Japan, France, and Germany. First, the length of high-speed rail is incomparable. As of 2023, China's high-speed rail mileage reached 45,390 kilometers, while the second-ranked Spain had only 3,993 kilometers of high-speed rail. Japan (3,147 km), France (2,760 km), and Germany (1,631 km) ranked third to fifth, respectively. South Korea opened the KTX-Sancheon Line in 2010, becoming the fourth country in the world with independent high-speed rail technology, and its high-speed rail mileage has now reached 874 kilometers.

The highest operating speed of China's high-speed rail is 350 km/h, ranking first in the world. Japan's Shinkansen, France's TGV, and Morocco are all ranked second with a speed of 320 km/h, while South Korea ranks third with a speed of 305 km/h.

South Korea's high-speed rail density is quite high. High-speed rail density is an indicator of the construction level of a high-speed rail network in a specific region or country, calculated by dividing the length of high-speed rail by the land area. South Korea ranks first with 8.717, followed closely by Japan with 8.325. The third to fifth places are Spain (7.892), Belgium (6.846), and France (5.074), respectively.

China ranks sixth with 4.730. Although China's high-speed rail mileage has reached 48,000 kilometers, due to its large territory, the high-speed rail density is lower than other high-speed rail developed countries.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841683848770763/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.