Problems with HSR in China...

A number of months ago, I wrote about China's high speed rail (HSR) construction. China has the world's longest high-speed rail network with 6,920 kilometres and will expand to 13,000 kilometers within the next three years.

I also wrote about the many benefits of China's HSR growth. HSR will help stabilize the country's greenhouse gas emissions in its transportation sector. It will (over the long-term) decrease demand for airlines services, it will advance China's transportation network, foster a greener ethic in its citizenry etc.

BUT, recent news from the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggests that such HSR expansion is happening too quickly and might be too expensive for the nation long-term, if demand is lacking.

"The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) reported to the State Council recently, urging the large-scale high-speed railway construction projects in China to be re-evaluated. The CAS worries that China may not be able to afford such a large-scale construction of high-speed rail, and such a large scale high-speed rail network may not be practical".

"Some local media have reported recently that the recently enabled Wuhan - Guangzhou high-speed rail is currently running an average daily attendance of less than half capacity, while the newly opened Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed rail attendance is even lower. The main reason for the high-speed rail low attendance is that fares are too high; the high-speed railway ticket prices are usually double or higher than normal train fares". Read more here.

I have and continue to argue that HSR ticket prices must be competitive with airfare tickets. The success, popularity and future ridership of HSR will largely be dependent on how affordable it is for China's citizenry. HSR construction is indeed really expensive. However, if one of the goals is to have an extensive high speed train system with very high rates of use, then prices must be affordable to all income groups. With decent rates of ridership, the benefits will pay off long-term and the Ministry of Railways can recover the costs of construction.

I do hope that China continues to expand its HSR corridors. The Beijing-Shanghai line is supposed to open next year. I imagine it is going to have decent ridership and significantly reduce the amount of GHG emissions due to less demand for airlines. But, the issue of cost is something the Chinese Ministry of Railways must better address in this critical time for the nation.