중국, 세계 최대 고속철도 건설국가로 부상 China's superlative rail network VIDEO
http://neverknownfacts.com/united-states-has-the-largest-rail-network-in-the-world/
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9월 1일 신화넷에 따르면 중국은 세계 최대 고속철도 건설국가로 부상했습니다. 현재 국제적으로 중국과 한국, 일본, 독일 등 16개 국가와 지역만이 고속철도를 건설하고 운영하고 있습니다.
2013년 말까지 중국에서 고속철도가 운영된 총 길이는 1만 1천28킬로미터, 고속철도 건설규모는 1만 2천킬로미터에 달해 중국은 세계에서 고속철도 운영길이가 가장 길고 건설규모가 가장 큰 국가가 되었습니다.
2013년 11월 1일까지 세계 기타 국가와 지역의 고속철도 운영 총 길이는 1만 1천605킬로미터, 건설규모는 4천883킬로미터에 달해 중국의 고속철도 총 길이는 세계 기타 나라와 지역의 고속철도 총 길이에 접근합니다.
신화넷은 세계 일부 지역은 현재 "중국의 고속철도"를 깔기 시작했다며 이는 중국정부의 노력과 저렴한 중국 고속철도 건설원가와 갈라놓을 수 없다고 분석했습니다.
지난해부터 중국 지도자들은 해외방문시 "중국의 고속철도"를 빈번히 언급했습니다. 국무원 이극강 총리만 볼 경우 지난해 10월에 태국, 루마니아, 영국에서 고속철도건설 협력과 관해 논의했으며 올해 5월 아프리카에서 고속철도 연구센터를 설립할 것이라고 발표하며면서 "고속철도외교"를 펼쳤습니다.
한편 남미주에서 중국이 건설한 고속철도 총 길이는 현재 471.5킬로미터에 달했으며 고속열차 설계시속은 220킬로미터입니다.
수치에 따르면 중국의 고속철도 건설원가는 세계 기타 국가에 비해 저렴합니다.
고속철도 터널건설만 보더라도 중국이 건설하는 원가는 1천500만 달러인 반면 뉴질랜드는 4천300만 달러, 미국은 5천만 달러, 오스트레일리아는 6천만 달러인 것으로 통계되었습니다.
신화넷은 1960년대에 이미 고속철도 건설계획을 제기한 미국이 현재 고속철도 건설에서 부진한 모습을 보이는 것은 다년간 재정예산과 운영능력심사, 환경계획 등 분야에서 발목을 잡혀 관련분야의 발전이 더디여졌기 때문이라고 분석했습니다 |
China's superlative rail network
Barrelling through: China's focus on high-speed rail is on display at Wuhan's station, located in Hubei province.
One of the main stations on the Beijing-Guangzhou line, it has 11 platforms and 20 tracks. - Photo from China
Railway Tunnelling Equipment
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China leads the way in the longest, largest and fastest transportation systems.
In the last 20 years, China has been building a different kind of linkage: a massive rail network, both between as well as within cities (where the system is called the metro).
This network, already the world’s second longest (next to the one in the United States), has chugged along at full steam in the last two decades and is now hurtling along at breakneck speed in China’s haste to modernise.
Rail development in China first began in the late 19th century during the final legs of the Qing Dynasty (which pretty much ended by the time of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900).
The first railroad was the Woosung Road, which began service in July 1876 in glitzy Shanghai, with a 15km line connecting the edge of Shanghai’s American Concession in the present-day Zhabei District with Woosung in the present-day Baoshan District.
This was followed by other lines in the period between 1895 and 1911.
The Qing’s defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), ironically, worked as a stimulus for more railroad building after the Chinese understood the importance of rail transport during times of war.
Of course, Western powers also twisted the arm of the Qing when it was weak to secure rights to construct railways in China, along with other privileges such as settlement or mining along the railway. By 1911, there were around 9,000km of rail in China. From the 1890s to 1905, nearly all railways in China were planned, financed, built and operated by foreigners, with approval from the Qing Government.
By the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1942-1945), the Chinese mainland already had 27,000km of rail. Malaysia, which is 29 times smaller than China, has 1,700km of intercity rail today.
Chugging into the modern era Modernisation in China did not just come in the form of rail mileage, but also in terms of propulsion. During the 1980s and 1990s, diesel and electric locomotives gradually replaced steam engines on the main lines that ran on coal or firewood.
The “official” end of the steam era in China came in December 2005 when the world’s last regular mainline steam train finished its journey on the Jitong railway, a 945km route in Inner Mongolia that had opened in 1995.
In 2004, China’s State Council, while deliberating its mid-to-long term railway development plans, opted for the conventional track high-speed railway (HSR) technology for the Beijing–Shanghai route, as well as three other north-south high-speed rail lines.
In 2007, China opened its first HSR line using imported trainsets. Since then, it has rapidly made great strides, to the extent that the Chinese can now make the trainsets themselves, without any foreign technical assistance.
With trains travelling at an average speed of close to 300kph, China’s HSR network is now the world’s longest, stretching over 7,500km. This is only the beginning, as China plans to expand the network to over 16,000km by 2020.
Many of its HSR lines are passenger-dedicated, meaning these trains do not share the track with slower-moving cargo trains. In 1993, commercial train service in China averaged only 48kph, a speed that is no longer tolerated in China’s haste to be a superpower.
Not content with mere high-speed lines, on Oct 19, 2010, its (then) Ministry of Railways announced that the country is looking into the development of “super-speed” railway technology with which trainsets could top 500kph.
Achieving the (almost) impossible
Hitting speeds of 300kph and above could only be realised by having relatively straight rail alignments. “Straightness” is achieved by separating the track from other infrastructure like roads and pipelines as well as other railway tracks – this naturally calls for an extensive network of viaducts and tunnels.
Viaducts also help lessen the need for land to be acquired, as the void between the pillars or piers of the viaducts can still be utilised; China’s civil engineering prowess is such that viaducts can be built in some of the most hostile places on earth, such as the frigid ground over which the Xining-Golmud-Lhasa (the world’s highest railway line) has to pass.
When it comes to mountains, there is no escaping tunnels if the high speed of the train is to be maintained.
“Tunnels were less of a concern in the northern and southern rail connections of China, as the tracks generally passed across relatively flat terrain. However, tunnels were crucial when it came to connecting the eastern, or coastal, part of China with the western part as mountains stand in the way,” says Li Jianbin, a professor in the field of mechanical engineering.
Li, 52, who joined the railway business in 1982, is now chairman of China Railway Tunnel Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd, currently China’s largest tunnel-boring machine (TBM) manufacturer.
Having worked as a tunnelling engineer for 28 years in China, he has seen China’s tunnelling industry take baby steps from being a mere importer of foreign equipment until it has developed enough competency to export its services as a tunnelling contractor.
http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Features/2014/09/01/Chinas-superlative-rail-network/
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