World Bank2012-03-192012-03-192009-05-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3197This report describes and explains how, in the period 1990-2008, China's railway sector has contributed and responded to the incredibly challenging transport demands generated by China's economic development, and highlights the plans and possibilities that lie ahead. In 1949, China had only 22,000 km of poorly maintained and war-damaged railway line, less than 1,000 km of which was double-tracked with none being electrified. Since then, the government has transformed the railway sector into a vital element of China's national transport system and a key contributor to China's extraordinary record of economic growth. Today, China Rail is the second biggest carrier of rail freight and the biggest carrier of passenger transport in the world. It has the largest combined rail traffic task of any national railway system in the world, carrying about a quarter of the world's railway traffic on about seven percent of the global route-km of public railway. This paper describes how the Ministry of Railways, and its constituent regional railway administrations and other entities, have created a modern rail system by adopting proven international practices and technologies, giving them distinct Chinese characteristics, and adapting them to Chinese circumstances.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCELERATIONAIRAIR PASSENGERSAIR SERVICESAIR TRANSPORTAIR TRAVELAIRPORTAIRPORT TERMINALSBAGGAGEBOTTLENECKBOTTLENECKSBRIDGESBUSBUS SERVICESCAPITAL INVESTMENTCARCAR TRAVELCARBON DIOXIDECARSCEMENTCENTRALIZED TRAFFIC CONTROLCITY PASSENGERCONCESSIONSCORRIDORCTCDEMAND FOR RAIL TRANSPORTDEMAND FOR TRANSPORTDIESELDIESEL LOCOMOTIVESDIVERSION OF TRAFFICDRIVERSDRIVINGECONOMIES OF SCALEELASTICITYELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVEELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVESENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYEXPRESS FREIGHTEXPRESS TRAINSEXPRESSWAYEXPRESSWAYSFARE REDUCTIONFARESFREIGHTFREIGHT CARRIERFREIGHT DEMANDFREIGHT FLOWSFREIGHT HANDLINGFREIGHT LOCOMOTIVESFREIGHT MARKETFREIGHT MOVEMENTFREIGHT SERVICESFREIGHT SHIPPERSFREIGHT TERMINALSFREIGHT TRAFFICFREIGHT TRAINSFREIGHT TRANSPORTFREIGHT TRANSPORT MARKETFREIGHT WAGONSFUELGRAVELGREENHOUSE GASGREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONSHIGH-SPEED LINESHIGH-SPEED TRAINHIGHWAYHIGHWAY CONSTRUCTIONHIGHWAY SYSTEMHIGHWAYSINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINLAND WATERWAYINLAND WATERWAYSINTERNATIONAL RAILJOURNEYSLAND TRANSPORTLAND-TAKELEASINGLOCOMOTIVELONG-DISTANCELONG-DISTANCE PASSENGERMARSHALLING YARDSMOBILITYMODAL CHOICESMODAL SHAREMODAL SHARESMOTIVE POWERNATIONAL RAILWAYNATIONAL TRANSPORTPASSENGER COACHESPASSENGER RAILPASSENGER SERVICEPASSENGER SERVICESPASSENGER STATIONSPASSENGER TRAFFICPASSENGER TRAINPASSENGER TRAINSPASSENGER TRANSPORTPASSENGER TRAVELPASSENGER VOLUMEPASSENGERSPEAK TRAVELPERSONAL MOBILITYPETROLEUM PRODUCTSPOPULATION DENSITYPORTSPRIVATE RAILWAYSRADIORAILRAIL ADMINISTRATIONSRAIL BUSINESSRAIL CAPACITYRAIL CORRIDORSRAIL FREIGHTRAIL FREIGHT TRAFFICRAIL INDUSTRYRAIL INFRASTRUCTURERAIL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTRAIL JOINT VENTURERAIL JOURNEYRAIL LINESRAIL MARKETRAIL MARKET SHARERAIL NETWORKRAIL PASSENGERRAIL PATRONAGERAIL POLICYRAIL ROUTESRAIL SERVICESRAIL SHARERAIL SYSTEMRAIL SYSTEM DEVELOPMENTRAIL TRACKRAIL TRAFFICRAIL TRANSPORTRAIL TRANSPORT SERVICESRAIL TRANSPORTATIONRAIL TRAVELRAIL TRIPRAIL TRIPSRAIL USERAILROADSRAILWAYRAILWAY ADMINISTRATIONSRAILWAY BUSINESSRAILWAY COMMUNICATIONSRAILWAY CONGESTIONRAILWAY CONSTRUCTIONRAILWAY CONSTRUCTION FUNDRAILWAY DEVELOPMENTRAILWAY FREIGHTRAILWAY INDUSTRYRAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURERAILWAY INVESTMENTRAILWAY LINERAILWAY LINESRAILWAY MANAGEMENTRAILWAY MARKETRAILWAY NETWORKRAILWAY OPERATORSRAILWAY POLICYRAILWAY ROUTERAILWAY SECTORRAILWAY STATIONSRAILWAY SYSTEMRAILWAY TECHNOLOGYRAILWAY TRAFFICRAILWAY TRANSPORTRAILWAYSREGIONAL TRAVELROADROAD HAULAGEROAD INFRASTRUCTUREROAD SAFETYROAD TRANSPORTROADSROUTEROUTESSAFETYSANDSEAT CAPACITYSHIPPING CONTAINERSSHORT-DISTANCE MOVEMENTSSHUNTING LOCOMOTIVESSIDEWALKSSLEEPERSSPEEDSPEEDSSTEELSTRUCTURESTIMBERTRACK CAPACITYTRACKSTRAFFICTRAFFIC ACCIDENTSTRAFFIC CONGESTIONTRAFFIC CONTROLTRAFFIC DEMANDTRAFFIC DENSITYTRAFFIC GROWTHTRAFFIC MANAGEMENTTRAFFIC OPERATIONSTRAFFIC PATTERNSTRAFFIC UNITSTRAFFIC VOLUMESTRAIN CONTROLTRAIN HEADWAYSTRAINSTRANSITTRANSIT STATIONSTRANSPORTTRANSPORT ALTERNATIVESTRANSPORT CAPACITYTRANSPORT CORRIDORSTRANSPORT EFFICIENCYTRANSPORT INDUSTRYTRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORT MARKETTRANSPORT MARKETSTRANSPORT MODESTRANSPORT NETWORKTRANSPORT OPERATIONSTRANSPORT POLICYTRANSPORT QUALITYTRANSPORT SERVICESTRANSPORT STRATEGYTRANSPORT SYSTEMTRANSPORT USERSTRAVEL TIMETRAVEL TIMESTRIPTRIP LENGTHTRIPSTRUETUNNELSVEHICLEVEHICLE EMISSIONSVEHICLESVOLUME OF TRAFFICWorld Bank10.1596/3197