We now set our watches by the trains’ departure times. All our trains—and we’ve taken about 10 train rides now—have departed precisely on the minute. A top performance! And then the “unthinkable” happened: panic! After a 750 km (466 mile) journey, our last train finally arrived 15 minutes late.
At 348 km/h (216 mph)
China’s trains are fast. The trains glide smoothly along at speeds of up to 350 km/h (216 mph). With the stops, the average speed is 250 – 270 km/h. That means almost 1,100 km in 4 hours—insane! There are already over 40,000 km (24,855 miles) of high-speed track (Europe has approx. 11,000 km), and they often go through mountainous terrain, over bridges, and through tunnels. The train stations resemble airports—huge and modern—and “checking in” is like at an airport gate.
Over 40,000 km of High-Speed Track
China only began expanding its high-speed network in 2008 and has built the world’s largest high-speed rail network in this short time. But that is precisely the advantage. The trains and technology are new and modern. The high-speed network is used only by fast trains, and the routes are pulled dead straight through all “resistance” according to the “Party’s” guidelines. Land was expropriated, people were relocated, and sometimes concrete pillars were simply placed right in the middle of a village.
There are no tickets
Using the railway app “铁路12306,” you can buy the journey in just a few clicks (in English). Everything is linked to the passport, which is now also the ticket. Everything from now on is done only with the passport. The tickets are quite cheap for us, but considering that the average income is about 4 times lower, we are not surprised that the Chinese say high-speed travel is only for the wealthy and business people. Once, we also took a “normal” train. 2 hours in a sleeper car, sitting under and on the beds. But it was fun because we had a great conversation with a Chinese couple.
