History of rail transport in China

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Rail transport in China began in the late nineteenth century during the Qing dynasty. Since then, the Chinese rail network has become one of the largest in the world.[1]

Qing dynasty

The first railways in China were built during the Qing dynasty in the late 19th century, after extensive railway networks were already in place in Europe, North America, India and Japan.[2] The late arrival of railways in China was due both to the lack of industrialization and skeptical attitude of the Qing government.[2] Although diverse and prominent personages such as Lin Zexu and Taiping rebel Hong Rengan called for the building of railways in China in the mid-19th century, the conservative Qing court considered steam engines to be "clever but useless" contraptions, and resisted the railways, which would "deprive us of defensive barriers, harm our fields and interfere with our feng shui.[2] In the 1860s, Chinese laborers helped build the Central Pacific Railroad in the United States.

Early efforts

The opening of the short-lived Woosung Road, the first railway in China, between Shanghai and Wusong in 1876.

In 1865, a British merchant built a 600-meter long

narrow gauge railroad outside the Xuanwu Gate in Beijing to demonstrate the technology to the imperial court.[3][4][5] The court found it "exceedingly special and strange in the utmost" and promptly had the railway dismantled.[5]

The first railroad to operate commercially in China opened in

Jardine, Matheson and Co.[6] Construction took place without approval from the Qing government, which had paid 285,000 taels of silver for the railroad[2] and had it dismantled in October 1877.[7][8] The rails and rolling stock were later shipped to Taiwan. In late 1884, Jardine, Matheson arranged a loan of 500 million taels of silver to the Chinese government in late 1884 "for the purpose of building railways".[9]

The first railway to endure was the

eunuchs instead of steam engine.[10]

The next effort was made by Taiwan Governor Liu Mingchuan. From 1887 to 1893, 107 kilometres (66 mi) of railway tracks were laid from Keelung to Taipei to Hsinchu. However, this railway was later demolished for modernization when Taiwan was under Japanese rule.

Rapid development during 1895–1911

Yunnan–Vietnam Railway
was built by France in 1906.
A train on South Manchuria Railway

Qing China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War greatly stimulated the railway development as the government both recognized the importance of modernization and was compelled by foreign powers to grant concessions to build railways along with settlement and mineral rights. The imperial powers then took to building railways in their spheres of influence. The railroads already built in 1900 had a total length of only 292 miles (470 km). Another 4,000 miles (6,400 km) were in the planning stage.[11]

The British built the Shanghai–Nanjing Railway (1905–1908) and

Port Arthur. To prevent domination by bigger powers, the Qing Court gave the rights to the Beijing–Hankou railway to Belgians. The Japanese initially received numerous concessions along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong, and built the Chao Chow and Swatow Railway (1904–06). After winning the Russo-Japanese War
in 1904, the Japanese took over the southern section of the China Eastern Railway (from Changchun to Port Arthur) and the entire Southern Manchuria Railway.

By 1911, there were around 9,000 km (5,600 mi) of rails in China. Most of the rails used the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

standard gauge
.

Map showing early railway expansion in China.
Jinghan Railway

The imperial capital,

Pukou
across the Yangtze River from Nanjing.

Railway protection movement and the Xinhai Revolution

Main article: Railway Protection Movement
Zhan Tianyou, the "father of China's railways"

The rapid expansion of foreign railroad ownership and operation in China aroused strong public resentment and led to calls for domestic development of railways.

Shanghai–Hangzhou Railway, 189 km (117 mi) in length and completed in 1909, was financed by the provincial governments of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.[12]
The Zhengding–Taiyuan Railway, originally planned to run from Zhengding County in Hebei Province, was routed from Shijiazhuang instead and opened in 1907.

In 1911, when some of the provincial railway ventures fell into bankruptcy, the foreign powers pressed the Qing government to permit them to take over the ventures.

Xinhai Revolution
toppled the Qing dynasty.

Republic of China

See also: Rail transport in Taiwan and Taiwan Railways Administration § History

After founding the Republic of China on January 1, 1912, Dr. Sun Yat-sen agreed to cede the provisional presidency to Yuan Shikai in exchange for the latter's assistance in securing the abdication of Qing court. Sun believed that a national railway network was key to the modernization of China. He sought and received from Yuan Shikai, the portfolio of railway development for the new republic.

From 1928 to 1937, the Republican government in Nanjing built 3,600 km (2,237 mi) of railway inside the

bomb was detonated on a Japanese-owned railway track in Manchuria, which later turned out to be a false flag operation. The Japanese used this incident as a pretext for their invasion of Manchuria
.

World War II

Longhai Railway
bombed during the Second Sino-Japanese War

During the

China Proper.[2]

In 1941, construction began of the

Burma with Kunming in Yunnan
province. Ultimately, however, the project was aborted.

1945–1949

In 1945, just after the

Communists actively sabotaged rail lines to disrupt the ruling Nationalists (Kuomintang), and the Nationalists scavenged lesser used railways in order to repair the most important ones.[14]

People's Republic of China

Chengdu–Chongqing Railway
, the first railway built in China after 1949.

In 1951, after extensive investment in reconstruction, the Communists, who established the

People's Republic of China (PRC) in October 1949, had restored the usable network to about 22,000 km (13,670 mi). Most of the early reconstruction (about 11,000 km (6,835 mi)) was in Manchuria because Soviet and Japanese occupation there reduced the amount of sabotage between the fighting parties, allowing for quick repairs.[14]

On October 14, 1949, the cross-border service on the

communist revolution
, and it was not resumed until April 4, 1979.

A train on Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge – a first fixed railway link across the river

In fact, when the PRC was established in 1949, China had constructed 27,380 km (17,013 mi) of railway, but only 24,090 km (14,969 mi) was kept, including 10,309 km (6,406 mi) in the northeastern part of China, and 919 km (571 mi) in Taiwan.[15]

Railway construction in the 1950s

The end to decades of warfare in China allowed railway construction to proceed on a large scale. In the 1950s, the government initiated numerous railway building projects to fill in missing links in the country's rail network. The new government undertook a vigorous railway building campaign. From 1952, when the first railway of the People's Republic, the

Urumqi (completed in 1962), extended the national rail network to the Northwest and Southwest, and added connections between the coast and interior.[2]
In 1957, passenger trains averaged 34.8 km/h and freight trains averaged 25.2 km/h.[2]

The Great Leap Forward

Map of China's railway network in 1961

The launch of the Great Leap Forward in 1958 was intended to rapidly expand railway transport, but produced counterproductive results.[2] The shipment of freight, which was not quite 300 million tons in 1957, was targeted to reach 900 million tons by 1959 and 3 billion tons by 1972.[2] The length of newly planned railways rose from 20,000 to 70,000 km (12,427 to 43,496 mi), and 120,000 km (74,565 mi) over the next 15 years.[2] To reach these targets, the railroads were pushed beyond their capacity.[2]

Without experimentation, freight trains on all major lines increased carrying load from 2,700 tons to 3,600 tons without adding power to locomotives.

Dazhou-Chengdu Railway
were delayed for decades as a result.

Rail operations were revamped in 1961 and performance improved.[2] In 1965, freight carried reached 480 million tons and the system set a new record for net income.[2] The Sino-Soviet split prompted the leadership to shift railway building toward the "Third Line", in the mountainous regions of the interior, away from the east coast and Soviet border.

Cultural Revolution

The launch of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 brought political turmoil to the country and disruptions to railway operations.[2] In the fall of 1966, by Chairman Mao's edict, the Red Guards from around the country could travel on trains for free. To prevent political factional fighting to spread into the railways, the national railways were assigned to the command of the military in the summer of 1967.[2] Railway management and operations, nevertheless, slipped rapidly.[2] Accident rates rose 25% from 1966 to 1967, and another 20% from 1967 to 1968.[2] Premier Zhou Enlai and other moderate leaders pushed back against leftist-radical management of the railway and operations began to improve in 1969.[2] In 1973, the system shipped 800 million tons, a new record.[2] In 1974, however, the Gang of Four with the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius Campaign, reasserted the leftist line and railway performance plummted again.[2] From the summer of 1974 to early 1975, railway hubs in Xuzhou, Changsha, Guiyang, and Baotou experienced freight bottlenecks. In April 1975, Deng Xiaoping took control of the leadership and directed the railways to focus on productivity and safety.[2] In April 1975, the railways' coal carrying targets were met for the first time in nearly five years.[2] In early 1976, after Deng Xiaoping was removed from power and the Gang of Four reasserted control, railway performance declined again.[2] Compared to 1975, freight fell by 46.3 million tons year-on-year, accidents rose by 17% and tax revenues paid to the state fell by 740 million.[2]

Despite the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution and slowdown in rail construction at home, the Chinese Railway Ministry and the Rail Corps managed to build a 1,860 km (1,156 mi) railway across Tanzania and Zambia. The TAZARA Railway was by far the largest foreign aid project undertaken by China in Africa. As many as 56,000 Chinese engineers and workers were sent overseas from 1968 to 1975.

After the Cultural Revolution ended and the economic reforms were launched in 1978, the railways were reorganized and rededicated to improving safety, performance, technology and profitability.[2] These principles have guided the railway's operations in the decades since.[2]

In 1998, passenger trains averaged 54.5 km/h and freight trains averaged 31.8 km/h.[2]

Slowdown in the 1980s

After China initiated market-oriented economic reforms in 1978, railway building slowed as state funds were directed toward higher return investments. It was not until the 1990s, after more than a decade of economic growth, that the state committed the funds to renew large-scale railway building.

Railway building boom since 1990

In 1990, the Lanxin Railway was extended by the

Southern Xinjiang Railway brought railway service to Kashgar
in the far west.

The railway to

Qingzang railway was finished, linking Lhasa
with rest of China. Since then, every province-level entity in the People's Republic of China has a railway network.

End of the steam age

Great Wall
in Beijing in 1979.

Before the 1980s, due to the low labor cost, ease of manufacture, and cheap coal price,

Jitong railway
, marking the end of the steam era. Nevertheless, there are still some steam locomotives used on the industrial railways in China.

High speed rails

Main article: High-speed rail in China
A High Speed Rail in Shanghai

In 1978, during Deng Xiaoping's visit to Japan, he experienced the Shinkansen, the world's first high-speed rail. This sparked an interest in high-speed rail systems in mainland China.[16] As part of an infrastructure upgrade, China opened its first high-speed rail lines in 2007, utilizing trains sourced from Canada, France, Germany, and Japan. As of 2021, China possesses the world's largest high-speed rail network, with a total operating length of 40,000 kilometers.[16][17]

Network length table

Rail track length
Yearkm±% p.a.
1948 12,768—    
1949 21,800+70.74%
1950 22,200+1.83%
1951 22,300+0.45%
1952 22,900+2.69%
1953 23,800+3.93%
1954 24,500+2.94%
1955 25,600+4.49%
1956 26,500+3.52%
1957 26,700+0.75%
1958 30,200+13.11%
1959 32,300+6.95%
1960 33,900+4.95%
1961 34,500+1.77%
1962 34,600+0.29%
1963 35,000+1.16%
Yearkm±% p.a.
1964 35,300+0.86%
1965 36,400+3.12%
1966 37,800+3.85%
1967 38,600+2.12%
1968 38,800+0.52%
1969 39,300+1.29%
1970 41,000+4.33%
1979 53,000+2.89%
1980 53,300+0.57%
1981 53,900+1.13%
1982 52,900−1.86%
1983 54,100+2.27%
1984 54,500+0.74%
1985 55,000+0.92%
1986 55,700+1.27%
1987 55,800+0.18%
Yearkm±% p.a.
1988 56,100+0.54%
1989 56,900+1.43%
1990 57,800+1.58%
1991 57,800+0.00%
1992 58,100+0.52%
1993 58,600+0.86%
1994 59,000+0.68%
1995 62,400+5.76%
1996 64,900+4.01%
1997 66,000+1.69%
1998 66,400+0.61%
1999 67,394+1.50%
2000 68,700+1.94%
2001 70,100+2.04%
2002 71,900+2.57%
2003 73,000+1.53%
Yearkm±% p.a.
2004 74,400+1.92%
2005 75,400+1.34%
2006 77,100+2.25%
2007 77,966+1.12%
2008 79,687+2.21%
2009 85,818+7.69%
2010 90,504+5.46%
2012 97,600+3.85%
2013 103,144+5.68%
2014 111,800+8.39%
2015 120,970+8.20%
2016 124,000+2.50%
2017 127,000+2.42%
2018 131,000+3.15%
Source: 历史统计:金砖国家历年铁路营业里程比较(1838～2010) • Search for 铁路营业里程 at National Bureau of Statistics of China/Overview • Facts and figures about China's railway development (18 January 2016)[a] • 2018 Rail Statistics Public Report

See also

Notes

  • a. ^ There is a significant discrepancy in the total length of China's railways reported by China Statistical Yearbook (120,970 km (75,170 mi) at year end 2015)[18] and the CIA Factbook (191,270 km (118,850 mi) in 2014).[19] The CIA Factbook figure is based on "the total length of the railway network and of its component parts."[19] The Statistical Yearbook figure includes "the total length of the trunk line for passenger and freight transportation in full operation or temporary operation" and measures the actual route distance between the midpoints of railway stations.[20][21] Any double-tracked route or route with a return track of shorter distance is counted using the length of the original route.[20][21] The length of any return tracks, other tracks within stations, maintenance and service tracks (such as those used to turn trains around), tracks of fork lines, special purpose lines and non-revenue connecting lines are excluded.[20][21] The Statistical Yearbook provides cross-year and cross-regional breakdowns of railway length and its figures are presented in China railway articles.[20][21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "China's electric railway mileage exceeds 48,000 km – Xinhua | English.news.cn". news.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak (Chinese) "中国铁路的发展历程" 中国铁路年鉴 Archived 2013-04-30 at the Wayback Machine 2000 edition
  3. ^ (Chinese) 杨征, "昔日北京城的轨道交通：天坛火车站只用了两年" 北京晚报 2016-03-30
  4. ^ (Chinese) 冯力强， 冯冠豪, 红色记忆：中东铁路上的中国梦 Beijing Book Co. Inc. 2015
  5. ^ a b c d e (Chinese) 王勇, "慈禧用太监拉火车酿世界铁路史最大笑话" 《皇城根下的京味文化》 时事出版社 2014-01-11
  6. ^ "Hong Kong Railway Society". www.hkrs.org.hk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  7. S2CID 145108086
    .
  8. ISBN 962-85532-1-6
    )
  9. ^ "Chinese Railway Loan". Evening Telegraph. British Newspaper Archive. 2 December 1884. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  10. ^
    ISBN 0-8248-2518-7
    .
  11. ^ Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year 1901 (1902) p 151.
  12. ^ Travelling By Train In China
  13. ^ Parks M. Coble (Fall 2003), "Book Review: Cheng Hwei-shing (Zheng Huixin) Cong touzi gongsi dao "Guanbang shangxing": Zhongguo jianshe yin gongsi de chuangli ji qijingying huodong / From Private Investment Company to State Enterprise: The Development and Operation of the China Development Finance Corporation. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2001" (PDF), Chinese Business History, 13:2, Cornell University East Asia Program
  14. ^ a b Norton S. Ginsburg, Geographical Review, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Jul., 1951), pp. 470–474
  15. ^ 中國鐵路1863－1949:在愚昧、專制、侵略下掙扎(一), 袁偉時
  16. ^ a b cycles, This text provides general information Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct Due to varying update; Text, Statistics Can Display More up-to-Date Data Than Referenced in the. "Topic: High-speed rail in China". Statista. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  17. ^ Wong, Dennis. "How China built the world's largest bullet train network". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  18. ^ China Statistical Yearbook 2016 "Length of Transport Routes at Year-end by Region (2015)" Accessed 2017-02-16
  19. ^ a b CIA World Factbook "Country Comparison:Railways" Accessed 2017-02-16
  20. ^ a b c d (Chinese) 中华人民共和国国家统计局，"国家数据，年度数据，铁路营业里程（万公里），指示解释" Accessed 2017-02-16
  21. ^ a b c d National Bureau of Statistics of China, National Data, Annual Data, Length of Transport Routes, Length of Railways in Operation (10000 km), Explanatory Notes of Indicators" Accessed 2017-02-16

Further reading

  • Croizier, Ralph C. "Antecedents of the Burma Road: British Plans for a Burma-China Railway in the Nineteenth Century." Journal of Southeast Asian History 3.2 (1962): 1–18.
  • Crush, Peter. Woosung Road – the story of China's First Railway (Hong Kong 1999_.
  • Elleman, Bruce A. and Stephen Kotkin, eds. Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China: An International History (2010)
  • Gao, James Zheng. Meeting technology's advance: social change in China and Zimbabwe in the railway age (Greenwood, 1997).
  • Harter, Jim (2005). World Railways of the Nineteenth Century. JHU Press. p. 223.
    ISBN 9780801880896
    .
  • Hsu, Mongton Chih. Railway problems in China (Columbia University Press, 1915) online.
  • Jui-Te, Chang. "Technology transfer in modern China: the case of railway enterprise (1876–1937)." Modern Asian Studies 27.2 (1993): 281–296.
  • Kent, Percy Horace Braund. Railway enterprise in China: an account of its origin and development (E. Arnold, 1907) online.
  • Lim, Tai Wei. "A Survey of Modern and Contemporary China’s Coal Railway Development." in Energy Transitions in Japan and China (Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2017) pp. 49–76.
  • Matsusaka, Y. Tak. "Japan’s South Manchuria Railway Company in Northeast China, 1906–34." in Manchurian railways and the opening of China: An international history (Routledge, 2015) pp. 57–78.
  • Pong, David. "Confucian patriotism and the destruction of the Woosung railway, 1877." Modern Asian Studies 7.3 (1973): 647–676.
  • Sun, E-tu Zen. "The Pattern of Railway Development in China." Journal of Asian Studies 14.2 (1955): 179–199.
  • Tang, Man, and Honglin Sun. "China’s High-Speed Railway Development History." pn High-Speed Rail: An Analysis of the Chinese Innovation System (2020). 385–424.
  • How the Railroad is Modernising Asia, The Advertiser, Adelaide, S. Australia, 22 March 1913. N.B.: A historical article is of approx. 1,500 words, covering approx. a dozen Asian countries.

External links

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