Michael Perelman (mich...@ecst.csuchico.edu) wrote on 2009-08-30 at 18:53:48 in about [Marxism] railroads: > > > In China, I gave 2 different talks about 150 -200 miles away from where I > was staying in Beijing and Shanghai. The trips took less than 2 hours; > very comfortable. I don't know how much they cost. > My hosts took care of that, but they were > far more comfortable than a plane.
This gives me the occasion to talk about the railway (or railroad for USanians) investments in China. "S.Artesian" wants to see China only as a cheap labor pool and production platform for goods which are shipped 100% overseas. The reality is different. China is investing lots of funds into its infrastructure, and one important part of this is railways, high-speed rail, heavy-haul freight, public transit in the cities, and everything else. The railway to Lhasa in Tibet is only one of the better known examples. According to the plans, China will soon be the country with the longest network of high-speed railway lines. And an increasing part of the rolling stock is built in China itself -- a few months ago, the Chines MOR (Ministry of Railways) ordered 60 high-speed trains from a Chinese company, for which Siemens is providing the bogies, the electrical and electronic equipment (the train is built on Siemens' "Velaro" platform). China is also _exporting_ both locomotives and railway cars, among others to Cuba, to Africa, and is offering DMUs (Diesel Multiple Units) on Great Britain, where one of the private railway undertakings acts also as the importer and sales agent. Not only Michael Perelman, but also David Briginshaw, the editor of the "International Railway Journal" (IRJ, a sister publication of the US "Railway Age") has been in China (for the international heavy-haul conference) and reports in the lead article of the August 2009 issue of his publication > <http://www.railjournal.com/this-month/chinese-rail-boom-will-fuel-export- drive.html> "Travelling around China, one cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer scale and speed at which development is taking place both on the railway and with the metros in the major cities. As we report this month, China will soon have the world's largest high-speed rail network reaching 16,000km by 2020, and its conventional network is still expanding at an incredible rate. Underground, the expansion is no less impressive. By the end of 2007, there were 714km of metro lines in 10 cities, but by 2015 this will have grown to 2447km in 15 cities. This represents a massive investment of Yuan 6234.6 billion ($US 913 billion). " (Billion meaning here thousand million) further down: "A visit to the Daqin heavy-haul line demonstrated how the combination of railway expertise and new technology has been deployed to good effect in a major upgrade of the line which is now the world's busiest heavy-haul railway, carrying 340 million tonnes a year. But it is also the quality of the work that impresses. Given the speed at which lines are being upgraded and built, it would be all too easy to sacrifice quality of workmanship. But this is clearly not the case. The ride quality was excellent during a trip on one of the new high-speed overnight trains from Shanghai to Beijing. The train was spotlessly clean, and the staff could not have been more helpful. " "China's massive railway expansion programme will equip the nation with a very modern and efficient network which in turn will help to fuel the country's rapid industrialisation and almost unstoppable economic growth. But the work also acts as a huge training ground for Chinese railway engineers. As we report this month, China Railway Construction Corporation has won construction and electrification contracts in Algeria, and is the main contractor and systems integrator for the new metro in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is also building a large part of the new railway in Libya. Expect to see Chinese companies winning more civil works and infrastructure contracts in the future, especially when expansion at home starts to slow. There has been a huge influx of foreign technology and expertise into China largely through joint ventures. In some cases, particularly for locomotives and rolling stock, this has involved not only the transfer of technology but also intellectual property rights. While many Chinese railway equipment suppliers are content to concentrate on their huge domestic market, at least while the expansion continues, some of the larger companies are putting this new expertise to good effect to develop new products and win significant export orders. Mr Zheng Jian, chief planning officer with the Ministry of Railways, told heavy-haul delegates in Shanghai, that China plans to develop its own brand of 350km/h emu. This could make China a contender in the growing high-speed train market. CNR, one of China's two large rolling stock manufacturers, is starting to have some important export successes. It is supplying 626 double-deck bodyshells plus bogies for a new fleet of trains for Sydney, and has won contracts to supply trains to SuperVia in Rio de Janeiro and the new Mecca metro in Saudi Arabia. CNR signed a $HK 1.1 billion ($US 142 million) contract with MTR in Hong Kong last December for 10 eight-car trains for the West Island Line. As Mr Yang Xiong-Jing, project manager, with CNR, told me: if you can build trains which meet MTR's exacting standards, then you can supply trains to anyone." Two longer articles on the emerging high-speed network and on the heavy-haul lines are in the August 2009 issue of the IRJ which can be read online from the IRJ's website <http://www.railjournal.com> as "nxtbook", well, when September issue replaces the August issue, the previous is still accessble by the direct URL <http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sb/irj0809/> Pages 20 to 22: "China builds world's largest HS network. The remarkable expansion of Chinese high-speed" Pages 24 to 27: "Heavy haul heavywwight. A major upgrade of the Daquin heavy-haul railway has allowed to triple its capacity". S. Artesian (sartes...@earthlink.net) wrote on 2009-08-30 at 23:52:09 in about Re: [Marxism] railroads: > I understand that Michael, but the ratio you give 3 air hours/7 train hours, > means the train speed would have to touch 200 mph. Could well be. There is the line from Beijing to Tianjin, about 120 km, opened for the Olympic games in 2008, where the Siemens Velaro trains run with speeds up to 350 km/h which corresponds to 217 miles/hr (Velaro trains are branded as CHR3 in China, with CRH standing for China Railways Highspeed or somesuch). According to the IRJ article, 70 trains per day and direction operate on that line, with headways of 5 minutes, carrying an average of 40'000 passengers per day. The high-speed line (HSL) under construction between Beijing and Shanghai is designed for 350 km/h speeds. Cheers, Lüko Willms Frankfurt, Germany -------------------------------- ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
