China is much more than steam locomotives

摘要

When it comes to China, the rail community's attention is focused on the spectacular steam-locomotive action in Inner Mongolia. But Chinese railroading is a lot more than just a historical footnote in the Mongolian mountains and deserts. In many ways, Chinese railways are a carbon copy of the worst of U.S. railroading during its worst days. In other ways, Chinese railways are the wave of the future, better than U.S. railroading on its best days. The most important difference is that China Rail is growing at an astonishing rate, stretching the financial resources of even the new China. Between 1998 and 2002, China built 4,215 miles of new line, double-tracked 3,005 miles, and electrified 3,422 miles. That pace is continuing, even picking up with the construction of a difficult line over high permafrost plains and mountains to Tibet. The Chinese lead the world in new rail construction techniques.