China’s high-speed rail network has grown to more than 50,000 kilometres, giving the country a system longer than the combined high-speed rail networks of every other nation.
China State Railway Group said the network passed the 50,000-kilometre mark in late 2025. British railway historian Christian Wolmar, who travelled on the system and visited Chinese train manufacturing facilities while researching his latest book, estimates that the network reached around 50,400 kilometres by the end of last year.
That figure represents roughly 70% of the world’s high-speed railway infrastructure and highlights the extraordinary pace at which China has expanded its rail network since the first high-speed route between Beijing and Tianjin opened during the 2008 Olympics.
According to Wolmar, the network now carries an average of 9.36 million passengers every day across more than 9,300 services. During peak periods, daily passenger numbers can exceed 16 million, with more than 10,000 train services operating.
The network has expanded by an average of around eight kilometres of route every day since its launch. In less than two decades, China has built a high-speed railway system more than three times longer than Britain’s entire current railway network.
The scale of construction has also been accompanied by comparatively low costs. A World Bank study covering 27 Chinese high-speed rail lines found average costs of around CNY129 million per kilometre for projects designed to operate at 350kph, and approximately CNY87 million per kilometre for 250kph routes.
The World Bank estimated typical Chinese infrastructure costs at between US$17 million and US$21 million per kilometre, compared with US$25 million to US$39 million in Europe and as much as US$56 million per kilometre for some projects in California.
Wolmar estimates Chinese construction costs at roughly CNY100 million to CNY200 million per kilometre, although he noted that exact comparisons are difficult because railway projects differ significantly in design, geography and construction requirements.
China’s enormous rail programme has also helped develop a major domestic manufacturing industry. Wolmar visited CRRC’s Changchun manufacturing complex in northeastern China, describing the facility as highly organised and technologically advanced.
The plant employs around 20,000 workers, according to Wolmar, while Engineering News-Record has reported that the subsidiary employs more than 18,000 people producing high-speed trainsets as well as metro cars, trams and intercity trains.
Modern Chinese trains use lighter bodies and newer materials designed to reduce energy consumption, noise and vibration. Many high-speed routes are built separately from conventional rail lines, with large sections running on concrete viaducts. Although such infrastructure requires significant upfront investment, it can reduce damage to tracks and lower maintenance requirements over time.
Fuxing high-speed trains currently operate at speeds of up to 350kph, although many routes have scheduled operating speeds of around 300kph.
China is also developing its next generation of high-speed trains. CRRC is testing the CR450, which is designed for commercial operation at up to 400kph. Prototype testing has reportedly reached 453kph, with the train’s design expected to be finalised in 2026. No date has yet been announced for passenger services.
The railway system also incorporates extensive digital and security measures. Passengers can purchase seats online without paper tickets, while Chinese travellers can use identification cards at automated gates. Foreign passengers generally undergo manual passport checks.
China has also linked rail access to its wider enforcement system. Individuals listed by the Supreme People’s Court as judgment defaulters can be barred from purchasing train tickets. In 2018 alone, blacklisted individuals were reportedly prevented from buying train tickets 5.5 million times and airline tickets 17.5 million times.
The scale of the system is also reflected in ticket prices. Wolmar paid US$166 for a business-class seat on the 819-kilometre Beijing-Qingdao route, while second-class fares currently range from around CNY320 to CNY380 and first-class tickets from CNY527 to CNY599.
China intends to expand its high-speed rail network even further, with plans to reach 70,000 kilometres by 2035.
Wolmar argues that China’s political and economic system has helped make such rapid expansion possible, allowing the government to mobilise capital, acquire land and direct resources towards major infrastructure projects on a scale that Western governments often struggle to match.
China’s growing rail manufacturing capabilities could also strengthen its position in overseas markets. Wolmar argues that Western countries need a more coordinated industrial strategy if they want to compete with Chinese manufacturers.
The debate over European rail manufacturing intensified in 2019 when the European Commission blocked a proposed merger between Siemens’ rail division and France’s Alstom. The merger had been backed by France and Germany as a potential European competitor to China, but the Commission argued that it could reduce competition and increase prices for signalling systems and next-generation high-speed trains.
At the time, the Commission noted that no Chinese supplier had won a European signalling contract or supplied a very high-speed train outside China, and concluded that significant Chinese competition was unlikely in the foreseeable future.
However, then-French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire criticised the decision as an economic mistake, arguing that competition should be considered on a global rather than purely European basis.
Wolmar similarly argues that Western countries should reconsider how they approach industrial competition and develop a more coordinated strategy as China’s high-speed rail sector continues to expand both in scale and technological capability.
