Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail line a source of national pride

By Li Haihong Source:Global Times Published: 2013-1-8 20:48:01

Illustration: Liu Rui
Illustration: Liu Rui

Recently, the longest high-speed rail line in the world was launched, stretching 2,298 kilometers and linking the capital Beijing to Guangzhou, the economic hub in South China. The journey time is cut from more than 20 hours to just eight.

Last week I had my first experience on this train when I traveled from Beijing to Guangzhou. It's clean, quiet, provides free wifi, entertainment programs, and more choices of food.  The staff wear nicer uniforms and offer better services. Furthermore, a second-class ticket costs a reasonable 865 yuan ($138.91).

These rail lines have become the symbol of China's independent high-technology innovation and triggered a strong sense of national pride. Many ordinary people, me included, have been happy and proud to be the first passengers to experience the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail line.

However, at the same time, there are also different voices. When a bullet train crashed in Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province in 2011, killing some 40 people, the whole country grieved for the dead, raised questions about speedy trains' safety, and expressed anger at officials who tried to hide the truth.

We need these different voices, which remind the public the sector has to be improved, calling for priority on safety rather than speed, a more open government that tells the truth, and so on.  

We have seen the progress from the government side. The speed was reduced, and recently the railway authorities have said they will prioritize safety. Zhou Li, a senior official with the Ministry of Railways, recently told media that his ministry had "developed a full range of effective measures to manage safety" and "can control safety management."

As a long-term plan, high-speed rail line networks in China will continue to develop, which is needed for a country with such a big population.  

It is obvious that this new rail line will take pressure off the country's transportation system during the coming Spring Festival holiday, when hundreds of millions of urban residents travel back to their hometowns, constituting the world's largest annual human migration.

The new line also gives the middle class another choice for travel that is relaxing and cheaper than flying. One benefit for the public is that airlines are now offering bigger discounts in order to compete with high-speed rail lines.

Moreover, by train, people can enjoy grand landscapes from their train windows.

In fact, this high-speed train has connected major cities like Beijing, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, and many smaller cities on the way, where tourism resources and markets are yet to be developed.

This high-speed rail stretches through six provinces and 28 cities, bringing opportunities for tourism development, and also big changes to industries like domestic couriers and manufacturing.

Many courier companies have started to cooperate with the high-speed rail line so as to reduce costs for one-day delivery services.

China's high-speed rail network is one of the country's most expensive infrastructure projects and a symbol of its long-term ambitions. The total investment of this Beijing-Guangzhou rail line is around 400 billion yuan ($64.24 billion) over its seven years of construction.

China's rail system is necessary for continued growth - huge investments in the rail system shielded China from the worst effects of the global financial crisis in 2008 and another economic slump in early 2012.

The high-speed rail line has also strengthened the country's image. China is no longer regarded as a producer of low-quality goods, but a good model for the rest of the world, especially against the background of an economic crisis in Europe and the US.

We have read many comments from foreign netizens saying that such a thing could never happen in their country. "When the Chinese want something done, they just do it."

The author is a white-collar worker based in Shanghai. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn  



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