Development-of-Urban-Rail-Transit-Speeds-in-China英文版简要介绍

DevelopmentofUrbanRailTransitSpeedsupinChina

Withthedevelopmentofurbanrailtransit,ontheonehand,itispromotingtheprocessofurbanmodernization,alleviatingcongestedtrafficincities,andnarrowingthedistancebetweentimeandspace.Ontheotherhand,itchangesthewaypeopletravel,acceleratesthepaceoftheirlifeandwork,andaffectsthequalityoflife.

Thestateofurbanrailtransitreflectsacountry'scomprehensivestrengthandisasymbolofacity'smodernizationlevel.Atpresent,railtransitsystemisavailablein135citiesinnearly40countriesandregions.Incosmopolitancities,accountingforaproportionof60percent-80percent,railtransithasbecometheleadingmeansoftransportationinthesecities.Yetsofar,inBeijing,Shanghai,TianjinandGuangzhou,etc.,railtransitaccountsforlessthan10percentinthecitiestotaltrafficcapacity.

Urbanrailtransitofferscomprehensiveadvantages,likesmalllandoccupation,largetrafficvolume,highspeed,non-pollution,lowenergyconsumption,highsafetyandgreatcomfort.Withmostfacilitiesbeinginstalledundergroundandtheoperationgoingonunderground,subwaysrequireverylimitedoccupationofland,anddonotcompetewithothermeansoftransportationforspace.Urbanlightrail,trolleybusaswellassuburbanrailandmagneticsuspensiontrainarebasicallyrailways,whichmakesitpossibletomakethemostoflandresources.

Urbanrailtransitsystemoffersimmensetransportcapacity.Duringrushhours,themaximumunidirectionaltransportcapacitymayreachupto60,000-80,000person-timesperhour,whichisunmatchabletoothermeansoftransportation.Thehourlytravelingspeedofrailtransitgenerallyexceeds70kilometers-100kilometers,offeringhighpunctuality.Moreover,mostlybeinghauledbyelectriclocomotives,railtransitrequireslowenergyconsumption,anditcauseslittlepollutiontocities.Therefore,itiscalled"greentransportation".

Fromamacroperspective,urbanrailtransitplaysanimportantroleinimprovingthestructureofurbantransport,alleviatingurbangroundtrafficcongestion,andpromotingtheutilizationefficiencyofurbanland.

Nevertheless,comparedwithothermeansoftransportation,railtransithassomedrawbacks,likelongconstructioncycle,heavyinitialinvestment,slowwithdrawaloffundsandpooreconomicbenefitsinoperation.Forexample,currentlythebuildingofsubwaycostssomeRMB500million-700millionperkilometer;urbanlightrailandmagneticsuspensiontrain,RMB200million-300million;trolleybusandsuburbanrail,aboutRMB100million.

InChina,railtransitdatesbacktothelate1960s,whenthefirstsubwaywasbuiltin

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Beijing.ThatwasnearlyonecenturylaterthandevelopedcountriesintheWest.However,sinceitmadeitsdebut,urbanrailtransithashelpedeasetheimmensepressurecausedbyurbantrafficcongestionandbroughtgreatconvenienceandcomforttopassengers.TakeBeijingforexample.Currently,subwaysprovideatransportvolumeofapproximately1.5millionperson-timesperday.Withoutsubways,thetrafficcongestioninthiscitywouldsimplybeinconceivable.

Atpresent,railtransithasevolvedfromthestartupstagetoaperiodofstable,sustainableandorderlydevelopmentinthiscountry.InChina(excludingHongKongandTaiwan),thelengthofsubwayscompletedtotals193kilometers;projecturbanrailunderconstruction,334kilometers;plannedurbanrail,420kilometers.Amongbigcitieswithapopulationofover2million,thosethatalreadyhaveorarebuildingurbanrailtransitincludeBeijing,Tianjin,Shanghai,Guangzhou,Dalian,Shenzhen,Wuhan,Nanjing,ChongqingandChangchun.Now,sevencitieshaveannouncedorarestillworkingontheirplantobuildrailtransit:Chengdu,Hangzhou,Shenyang,Xi'an,Harbin,QingdaoandSuzhou.

Accordingtoplan,by2008,therewillbethirteenrailtransitlinesandtwospurlinesinBeijing,withatotallengthof408.2kilometers.InShanghai,therewillbe21railtransitlines,totalingmorethan500kilometersinlength.DuringtheTenthFive-YearPlanperiod,thetotallengthwillhit780kilometers.InTianjin,therewillbefoursubwaylines,totaling

106kilometers.That,coupledwith50kilometersofsuburbanlightrailandoneloopsubway71-kilometerssetaside,willbringthetotallengthto227kilometers.Meanwhile,therewillbesevenrailtransitlinestotaling206.48kilometersinGuangzhou,andsevenrailtransitlinestotaling263.1kilometersinNanjing.Withothercities'planningtakenintoaccount,thetotallengthofrailtransitlineswillcometosome2,200kilometersinthiscountry.

Atpresent,theconstraintstothedevelopmentofrailtransitinChinamainlylieinthreeaspects:

First,thereissevereshortageofconstructionfunds.Accordingtotheforegoingplanning,itisnecessarytoinvestinapproximatelyRMB300billion.Projectstobecompletedby2006alonerequiremorethanRMB150billion.Furthermore,inmostcases,fundscomefrominvestmentsofthecentralandlocalgovernmentsaswellasbankloans.Stilladevelopingcountryasitis,Chinahasverylimitedfinancialstrength.

Second,asrailtransitisdemandingontechnicalstandard,somekeytechnicalfacilitiesatlowratioofhomemadingatpresentlargelyrelyonimports.Thus,constructioncostremainshighduetotheimportoflargequantityoftechnologyandequipment.

Third,inmostcases,railtransitoperatesata