Transportation in the People's Republic of China
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- This article is on transportation in mainland China. See also transportation in the Republic of China, transport in Hong Kong, and transportation in Macau
Transportation in the mainland of the People's Republic of China has improved remarkably starting in the late 1990s as part of a government effort to link the entire nation through a series of expressways known as the National Trunk Highway System. Private car ownership is increasing but remains uncommon, in large part due to government policies designed to make car ownership expensive through the use of taxes and toll roads.
Air travel has increased since the late-1990s but remains out of reach for most ordinary mainland Chinese. Long distance transportation for most mainland Chinese is still dominated by the railways and bus systems.
Transportation in mainland China is overseen by the Ministry of Communication of the People's Republic of China.
Contents |
[edit] Railways
Main article: Rail transport in the People's Republic of China and Passenger rail transport in China
See also: List of railways in China
Total: 70,058 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)
Standard gauge: 68,000 km 1.435-m gauge (18,668 km electrified; 20,250 km double track)
Narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (1998 est.)
Double track: 22,640 km (not included in total) (2003)
Transrapid (a German maglev company, which has a test track in Emsland, Germany), constructed the first operational maglev railway in the world, from Shanghai to its airport. It was inaugurated in 2002.
There was an ambitious plan for more high speed rail by 2005.
Currently, mainland China is being served by about twenty principal domestic railway routes; China is actively constructing new railways, such as the Qinghai-Tibet railway.
[edit] Qinghai-Tibet Railway
A 1,080-km (670-mile) section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has been completed from Golmud to Lhasa. It includes the 3,345-meter Yangbajain No. 1 tunnel, which is 4,264 meters above sea level and located 80 km NW of the regional capital Lhasa. The 815-km section from Xining to Golmud in Qinghai opened to traffic in 1984.
More than 960 kilometers, or over four-fifths of the railway,is at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, and over half of it was laid on frozen earth.
The railway's highest point, the Tanggula Mountain Pass, is 5,072 meters above sea level.
Thirty railway stations were built, among them Tanggula Mountain station, which at 4,500 m is one of the highest-altitude railway stations in the world (after Cóndor station, at 4,786 m, on the Rio Mulatos-Potosí line, Bolivia, and La Galera at 4,781 m in Peru).
Rail-laying in Tibet was launched in double directions, towards Tanggula Mountain and Lhasa, at Anduo Railway Station on 22 June 2004. When the railway construction was completed (expected in 2005; signalling and track testing require another 6 to 12 months), it was now possible to travel from Lhasa to Beijing in 48 hours. The railway will later be extended to Xigaze (to the west) and Linzhi (Nyingchi, to the east).
Because of the high altitudes, carriages are supplied with supplemental oxygen.
[edit] Railway links with adjoining countries
- Afghanistan - no - no railways
- Bhutan - no - no railways yet
- Myanmar - no - break of gauge 1435mm/1000mm
- India - no - break of gauge 1435mm/1676mm - Himalaya Mountains
- Kazakhstan - yes - break-of-gauge 1435mm/1524mm
- Kyrgyzstan - no
- Laos - no
- Mongolia - yes - break-of-gauge 1435mm/1524mm
- Nepal - no - no railways
- North Korea - yes - same gauge 1435mm
- Pakistan - no - break of gauge1435mm/1676mm - Himalaya Mountains
- Russia - yes - break-of-gauge 1435mm/1524mm
- Tajikistan - no - break of gauge 1435mm/1524mm
- Vietnam - yes - break-of-gauge 1435mm/1000mm
Links adjourning the special administrative regions
some variable gauge axle trains in use to overcome break of gauge.
[edit] Metros
Image:Shanghai Metro platform.jpg
There are a growing number of cities that have an underground or light rail system.
- Beijing Subway originally designed and built in the 1960s
- Guangzhou Metro
- Shanghai Metro designed and built in the 1990s
- Tianjin Metro currently suspended for construction of additional lines
- Shenzhen Metro
- Nanjing Metro ( Subway construction official site )
- Wuhan Metro
Metro systems under construction:
- Chongqing Metro - most sections will be above ground.
See also: MTR of Hong Kong
[edit] Roads and expressways
Roads:
Total: 1.92 million km
Paved: 1.55 million km (with 42,000 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 362,147 km
Mainland China is linked by an evolving web of roads (China National Highways) and expressways. China National Highways stretch to all four corners of mainland China (Xinjiang, Tibet, Heilongjiang and the south and southeastern Chinese coast). Expressways reach the same destinations as China National Highways, except for the rugged terrain of Tibet. An expressway link is already on the drawing board.
For more expressway information see Expressways of China.
[edit] Air
[edit] Airports
In 2005 China has an estimated 506 airports. Of China's large airports, Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) has the greatest flow of passengers annually, surpassing Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) in 2005. In Mainland China, Shanghai's Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport (SHA) serve the heaviest traffic flow. Other large airports include Guangzhou's New Baiyun International Airport (CAN), Qingdao Liuting International Airport, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport.
Domestic traffic in mainland China is often connected through Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. Hubs for Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, respectively.
For flights to Taiwan and other places under administration of the Republic of China (ROC), see Three Links.
[edit] Airports - with paved runways
Total: 389
Over 3,047 m: 54
2,438 to 3,047 m: 120
1,524 to 2,437 m: 139
914 to 1,523 m: 23
Under 914 m: 53 (2005 est.)
[edit] Airports - with unpaved runways
Total: 117
Over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 15
914 to 1,523 m: 29
Under 914 m: 36 (2005 est.)
[edit] Other
[edit] Waterways
110,000 km navigable (1999)
Navigable waterways include: Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), Grand Canal of China, Huangpu river, Lijiang River, Xi Jiang
[edit] Pipelines
Crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998)
The major pipeline is the West-East Gas Pipeline from Xinjiang to eastern China. The government hopes that the use of natural gas will assist to reduce the use of coal which is responsible for much air pollution.
[edit] Ports and harbours
Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang
[edit] Merchant marine
Total: 1,746 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,637,023 GRT/24,552,567 DWT
Ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 325, cargo 840, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 11, combination ore/oil 1, container 125, liquified gas 20, multi-functional large load carrier 5, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 46, petroleum tanker 251, refrigerated cargo 24, roll-on/roll-off 21, short-sea passenger 43, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 1 (1999 est.)
