HONG KONG / CHINA | High Speed Rail

[chornedsnorkack]

Originally Posted by Silly_Walks

lol, 2412 km to get from Guangzhou tot Hong Kong... I wonder what route they take... through vietnam?

LOL!
There is a better alternative:
from Guangzhou to Wuhan
then Wuhan through Hefei to Nanjing
then Nanjing-Hangzhou
then Hangzhou-Ningbo
then Ningbo-Wenzhou-Fuzhou-Xiamen
then Xiamen-Longhua
reversing at Longhua, to Futian-Kowloon West.

In which year is Xiamen-Longhua high speed railway due to open?

[DoubleU]

Taken by me today.


image hosted on flickr


They started two, three weeks ago to fill up sand on one part of the concrete slab and pour a layer of concrete on it to place some new worker barracks there.
My guess is that they soon will get rid of the other barracks which are located on the west side of the park, north of Central Walk Mall, to start the road work there.
Other activities on site are that they are constantly loading steel parts which they obviously don't need anymore on trucks and drive them away.

[DoubleU]

I also found interesting photos from the most south part of the Futian Train Station. You can clearly see that they still have an opening there and a crane on top. Might be for heavy machines, e.g. for MEP use.
On the second photo you can see in the far back, if you follow the main road (YiTian Lu) to the green hill within the residential blocks, a orange crane as well. This is another construction site of the BeiJing - Hong Kong High Speed Rail where they doing the tunnel boring.

Pictures BY 1788111, posted on June 5th, 2012.

[DoubleU]

Taken by me today

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[hmmwv]

No visible above ground progress compare to a month ago, maybe they are only working underground.

[China Hand]

The area was just a huge hole in the ground site in February, with many loaders coming and going, traffic was a mess. Maybe they have started to bore the tunnel.

[DoubleU]

High-speed train to offer eight-hour Beijing trip

IT will take about eight hours to travel from Shenzhen to Beijing when the entire length of a multi-section high-speed train line opens at the end of the year.
High-speed train service from Shenzhen to Wuhan will be extended north to Zhengzhou Station when the Wuhan-Zhengzhou section opens, which is planned for September, the Ministry of Railways said.
A rail section between Zhengzhou and Anyang in Henan Province has passed tests using speeds up to 350 kilometers per hour.
Ministry officials said tests along 1,000 kilometers of the northern section of the Beijing-Shenzhen rail, between Beijing and Wuhan, will be completed at the end of the year. The 2,372 kilometers between Beijing and Shenzhen could be traveled in as few as eight hours if trains run at 300 kilometers per hour.
The opening of the entire Beijing-Shenzhen line is expected to pose a threat to airlines, as many residents are hoping fares for high-speed trains will be less expensive than airfares.
It currently takes 24 to 29 hours to travel from Shenzhen to Beijing on regular trains T108 and K106, which charge 200 yuan (US$32) for a seat and 400 yuan for a hard sleeper.
The trip takes about three hours by air, but can cost 1,750 yuan for an economy seat. Many airlines offer discounts for one-way flights between the two cities.


Source: http://szdaily.sznews.com/html/2012-...nt_2152842.htm

[foxmulder]

That's really cool. 2400km in 8 hrs is simply amazing. I hope they operate non-stop trains. Once Harbin - Beijing line finishes, you can go from Harbin to Honk Kong with high speed train. That will be fun.

[China Hand]

Originally Posted by foxmulder

That's really cool. 2400km in 8 hrs is simply amazing. I hope they operate non-stop trains. Once Harbin - Beijing line finishes, you can go from Harbin to Honk Kong with high speed train. That will be fun.

I don't think it will be 8 hours, more like 9.

In my trips, the top speed of the line x .85 is your average speed.

So if the line is running at 347, you travel at 296, 308 top speed, you travel at 262 kph avg, including stops, etc.

If the BEJ-SZX line is running at 308, the trip will probably take 2372 / 262 = 9.05 hours. That can be done easily in one day with no sleeper.

I have read that if a trip is longer than 1,000 km it's better to fly, but flying in China still has many developing nation problems. A flight of 2.5 hours can have 5 or 6 hours added:

1 to airport
1 to checkin
1 to wait and board
1 to sit on runway waiting for clearance
1 to get luggage and arrive
1 to get from airport to destination

Making the trip one of 7.5 or 8.5 hours and an average travel time of only 270 or 333 kph for a 2300 to 2500 km flight. If you live close to a CRH line, or can take the subway directly to a terminus as in Zhengzhou or Xi'an, it's better to CRH than fly for trips of even 1200 or 1300 km.

But once you get to 1500, it's better to fly. Certainly heading out to Urumqi or Haerbin from the coast would be faster flying.

Unless you love train travel as I do!

CRH has many benefits right now. The trains all have large pitch and wide seats, something a 2m traveler appreciates. They are new, clean, and well maintained. They do not stop for people at overpasses, or crawl out of the station hoping to pick up people on the street. They rarely have delays, they leave on time (usually to the minute), they allow one to see the countryside and they cost -54% or less of airfares.

With the standard delays and hassles of domestic air travel, CRH is a very attractive alternative at the current price per passenger km.

[hkskyline]

Indeed, China's largest cities are very prone to major flight delays and there are all sorts of excuses given for it. But Beijing - Shenzhen is a very long journey so I probably would put up with the risk of a few hours delay. The flight is 3.5 hours only.

[FM 2258]

Originally Posted by China Hand

I don't think it will be 8 hours, more like 9.

In my trips, the top speed of the line x .85 is your average speed.

So if the line is running at 347, you travel at 296, 308 top speed, you travel at 262 kph avg, including stops, etc.

If the BEJ-SZX line is running at 308, the trip will probably take 2372 / 262 = 9.05 hours. That can be done easily in one day with no sleeper.

I have read that if a trip is longer than 1,000 km it's better to fly, but flying in China still has many developing nation problems. A flight of 2.5 hours can have 5 or 6 hours added:

1 to airport
1 to checkin
1 to wait and board
1 to sit on runway waiting for clearance
1 to get luggage and arrive
1 to get from airport to destination

Making the trip one of 7.5 or 8.5 hours and an average travel time of only 270 or 333 kph for a 2300 to 2500 km flight. If you live close to a CRH line, or can take the subway directly to a terminus as in Zhengzhou or Xi'an, it's better to CRH than fly for trips of even 1200 or 1300 km.

But once you get to 1500, it's better to fly. Certainly heading out to Urumqi or Haerbin from the coast would be faster flying.

Unless you love train travel as I do!

CRH has many benefits right now. The trains all have large pitch and wide seats, something a 2m traveler appreciates. They are new, clean, and well maintained. They do not stop for people at overpasses, or crawl out of the station hoping to pick up people on the street. They rarely have delays, they leave on time (usually to the minute), they allow one to see the countryside and they cost -54% or less of airfares.

With the standard delays and hassles of domestic air travel, CRH is a very attractive alternative at the current price per passenger km.

This is probably the same for the U.S. .... I bet any other country as well. A 1 hour flight could really mean a 3 hour trip from doorstep to doorstep. I love planes a little more than trains but to try out the CRH would be awesome. I've only been on the CRH1 from Guangzhou East to Shenzhen(Luohu) and the Shanghai maglev(only ran at 186mph vs. 268mph since it was evening). Maybe by the time I visit China again the CRH500's will be cruising the main high speed lines regularly with no speed reductions.

Interestingly enough during my trip to China in 2010 I had 6 domestic flight segments but only one was delayed(SHA-PEK). I'm glad it an hour late because I probably would have missed it if the flight was on time.

[chornedsnorkack]

Originally Posted by DoubleU

High-speed train to offer eight-hour Beijing trip

IT will take about eight hours to travel from Shenzhen to Beijing when the entire length of a multi-section high-speed train line opens at the end of the year.
High-speed train service from Shenzhen to Wuhan will be extended north to Zhengzhou Station when the Wuhan-Zhengzhou section opens, which is planned for September, the Ministry of Railways said.
A rail section between Zhengzhou and Anyang in Henan Province has passed tests using speeds up to 350 kilometers per hour.
Ministry officials said tests along 1,000 kilometers of the northern section of the Beijing-Shenzhen rail, between Beijing and Wuhan, will be completed at the end of the year. The 2,372 kilometers between Beijing and Shenzhen could be traveled in as few as eight hours if trains run at 300 kilometers per hour.

Source: http://szdaily.sznews.com/html/2012-...nt_2152842.htm

Which rails are 2372 km?

Several stretches of high speed railway are shorter than the parallel low speed railways. Guangzhou-Wuhan is 1069 km - but high speed railway is 968 km. High speed line is 102 km Guangzhou-Longhua, and would be 116 km Guangzhou-Futian. I have seen the high speed line Wuhan-Beijing quoted at 1121 km - and then Longhua-Beijing would be 2191 km, not 2372.

In which year is Futian Station due to open?

[DoubleU]

Taken this morning by me

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[foxmulder]

Nice pictures

[hmmwv]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing. Now that's some nice progress, it's interesting that such two high profile projects (Ping'an and this underground station) are right next to each other.

[FM 2258]

I think this is amazing because this High Speed Rail station is in the center of town rather than on the outskirts like other Chinese cities, extremely convenient. Even Shenzhen Railway Station(Luohu) is another conveniently located HSR station. It seems that most other Chinese cities have their high speed rail stations on the outskirts(Guangzhou South comes to mind).

It would be nice if planners could build a high speed branch from Guangzhou South to Zhujiang New Town(Guangzhou) to truly have city center to city center high speed rail connections on the Guangshen'gang railway. It might all have to be an underground line but I think the concept would be perfect for Guangzhou.

Also thanks for the updates DoubleU

[DoubleU]

Another batch of photos. This time of the part along Shennan Dadao which I took after lunch while going back to the office.
It seems to me like a pick-up/drop-off area for taxis after the station will be open directly connected underground with all the metro and HSR facilities.

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[FM 2258]

Thanks for the updates. It's hard to see the full progress for this station because it's underground.

What is the area supposed to look like when it's all completed, any renders for this station?

[hkskyline]

I suspect the area above the station cannot hold a supertall.

[hmmwv]

The construction site used to be a large road anyway, and it will be restored once construction is done IIRC.