China Railway High-speed (CRH) is a high-speed rail service operated by China Railway in addition to China Railway's older Classic Rail services.
The introduction of CRH series was a major part of the sixth national railway speedup, implemented on April 18, 2007. By the end of 2020, China Railway High-speed provided service to all provinces in China, and operated just under passenger tracks in length, accounting for about two-thirds of the world's high-speed rail tracks in commercial service. China has revealed plans to extend the HSR to 70,000 km by year 2035. It is the world's most extensively used railway service, with 2.29 billion bullet train trips delivered in 2019 and 2.16 billion trips in 2020, bringing the total cumulative number of trips to 13 billion as of 2020.
Over 1000 sets of rolling stock are operated under the CRH brand including Hexie CRH1/2A/5 that are designed to have a maximum speed of , and CRH2C/3 have a maximum speed of . The indigenous designed CRH380A have a maximum test speed of with commercial operation speed of 350 km/h. The fastest train set, CRH380BL, attained a maximum test speed of . In 2017, the China Standardized EMU brand including CR400AF/BF and CR200J joined China Railway High-speed and are designated as Fuxing together with letters CR (China Railway). With a gradual plan, the CR brand is going to replace the current CRH brand in service.
Depending on their speed, there are 3 categories of high speed trains, G, D and C (G and some C being the fastest at 350 km/h, D having a speed of 250 km/h and C having a speed of 200 km/h).
High-speed rail network
High-speed rail services were first introduced in 2007 operating with CRH rolling stock. Those run on existing lines that have been upgraded to speeds of up to and on newer dedicated high-speed track rated up to .
China will continue to operate the largest high-speed rail (HSR) network in the world by the end of 2021, with a length of over 40,000 km (24,855 mi). Beijing to Hong Kong High Speed Railway, the longest HSR route in the world, stretches 2,440 km (1,516 mi).
CRH service on dedicated high-speed lines Table:CRH service on high-speed rail linesThe following table lists the frequency of CRH service on 14 HSR lines (as of August, 2012). In some cases, CRH trains must still share the HSR lines with slower, non-high-speed trains, which are listed in the table. Note China's first HSR, the Qinshen PDL service as part of the Jingha Railway. Line(route)Length(main line)Travel time(By fastest train)Trains per day(aggregation of both direction)Designed speedTrains in serviceJinghu HSR(Beijing–Shanghai)1318 km4h 48m180380 km/hOpening speed 350 km/hCRH380A/AL CRH380BL CRH2A/E Wuguang HSR(Wuhan-Guangzhou)968 km3h 33m216350 km/hCRH2C CRH3C CRH380A/ALHuhang HSR(Shanghai-Hangzhou)169 km (Shanghai Hongqiao – Hangzhou)45min168350 km/hCRH1A/B/E CRH2A/B/C/ECRH380A/AL CRH380BL Huning ICL(Shanghai-Nanjing)296 km (Shanghai Hongqiao – Nanjing)1h 13min238350 km/hCRH1B/E CRH2A/B/C/ECRH380A/AL CRH380BLJingjin ICL(Beijing-Tianjin)117 km30min200350 km/hCRH3CZhengxi HSR(Zhengzhou-Xi'an)456 km1h 50min28350 km/hCRH2CYongtaiwen PFL(Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou)268 km1h 13min64250 km/hCRH1A/B/E CRH2A/B/EWenfu PFL(Wenzhou-Fuzhou)298 km1h 23min42250 km/hCRH1A/B/E CRH2A/B/EShitai PDL(Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan)190 km (Shijiazhuang North–Taiyuan)1h 6min26250 km/hCRH5AFuxia PFL(Fuzhou-Xiamen)275 km1h 21min118250 km/hCRH1A/B/E CRH2A/B/EChangjiu ICL(Nanchang-Jiujiang)135 km45min42250 km/hCRH1A CRH2AHewu PFL(Hefei-Wuhan)351 km1h 58min38250 km/hCRH1E CRH2A/B Jiaoji PDL(Qingdao-Jinan)362 km2h 13min42250 km/hCRH5A CRH380A/AL CRH380BLHening PFL(Hefei-Nanjing)156 km54min12250 km/hCRH1B/E CRH2A/B/EChengguan PDL(Chengdu-Guanxian)67 km30min36250 km/hCRH1AChangji ICL(Changchun-Jilin)111 km34min50250 km/hCRH5AHainan ER ICL(Haikou-Sanya)308 km1h 22min44250 km/hCRH1A CRH380AGuangzhu ICL(Guangzhou-Zhuhai main line)93 km45min76200 km/hCRH1AGuangzhu ICL(Guangzhou-Jiangmen branch line)72 km45min46200 km/hCRH1A
CRH service on upgraded conventional lines
As of September 2010, there were of upgraded conventional railways in China that can accommodate trains running speeds of 200 to 250 km/h.(Chinese) 2010-09-25 Over time with the completion of the national high-speed passenger-dedicated rail network, more CRH service will shift from these lines to the high-speed dedicated lines.
A. Intercity service (typically, listed in schedules as C-series or D-series trains): Beijing – Beidaihe, Qinhuangdao Beijing – Tianjin, Tanggu Beijing – Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan Shanghai – Kunshan, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Nanjing, Hefei, Xuzhou, Nantong Shanghai – Hangzhou, Yiwu, Jinhua, Quzhou Nanjing – Hangzhou Guangzhou – Shenzhen Shenzhen – Jiangmen – Zhanjiang Wuhan – Zhengzhou, Changsha Changsha – Nanchang Xi'an – Baoji B. Long-haul service (typically, listed in schedules as G-series or D-series trains): Beijing – Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin Beijing – Jinan, Qingdao, Shanghai Beijing – Zhengzhou, Wuhan Shanghai – Zhengzhou, Qingdao, Shenyang Shanghai – Nanchang Wuhan – Changsha – Guangzhou
Table:CRH service on conventional rail linesThe table below lists the upgraded conventional railways that run CRH high-speed trains every day. RouteRailwaydistanceTrains per day(aggregation of both direction)Trains in serviceGuangzhou–ShenzhenGuangshen line147 km220CRH1AWuhan–ShiyanHandan line500 km4CRH2A CRH5ABeijing–ShijiazhuangJingguang line277 km5CRH5AShijiazhuang–QinhuangdaoJingguang line & Jingha line 586 km1CRH5ABeijing–QinhuangdaoJingha line 299 km3CRH5ABeijing–ShenyangJingha line703 km24CRH5ABeijing–NanjingJinghu line1150 km1CRH2EChongqing–ChengduChengyu line & Dacheng line315 km22CRH1ABeijing–ShanghaiJinghu line1454 km3CRH1E CRH2EHangzhou–NingboXiaoyong line149 km50CRH1A/B/E CRH2A/B/EHangzhou–NanchangHukun line644 km1CRH2ANanchang–ChangshaHukun line419 km2CRH1A CRH2AWuhan–NanchangWujiu line & Changjiu PDL337 km16CRH1A CRH2A Xi'an–BaojiLonghai line173 km2CRH2ABeijing–ZhengzhouJingguang line605 km3CRH5ABeijing–WuhanJingguang line1205 km3CRH5A
Overnight high-speed trains
Unlike the "conventional" (non-CRH trains), which run round the clock, most high-speed rail lines operations shut down each night. There are several sleeper EMU services (abbreviated 动卧, ) running on the upgraded rail or high-speed lines operated with CRH1E and CRH2E trains.
Conventional higher-speed Z-series overnight rail services may also use certain sections of the high-speed rail network; e.g., the planned Shanghai-Chengdu train Z121/2/3/4 will use the Huhanrong PDL from Nanjing to Wuhan.南京到西安可以乘动车了 去哈尔滨也有始发站列车 (One will be able to ride an EMU from Nanjing to Xi'an. There also will be a [Nanjing-originated] service to Harbin) 2012-12-14 (The planned Nanjing-Harbin service mentioned in the article will be "conventional", not high-speed)
With the schedule change planned for December 21, 2012, some of these trainsets will be re-purposed to also provide overnight high-speed service between Shanghai and Xi'an North. In the 2014, Chunyun season, overnight HSR trains first ran on Beijing-Guangzhou (Jingguang) and other lines.
In November 2016, CRRC Changchun unveiled CRH5E bullet train carriages with sleeper berths. Made in the CRRC factory in Changchun and nicknamed Panda, they are capable of running at 250 km/h, operate at -40 degrees Celsius, have Wi-Fi hubs and contain sleeper berths that fold into seats during the day. In 2017, CRRC unveiled a high speed train with double decked sleeper "capsules" classed as the CRH2E series high speed rail train. On January 5, 2019, the CR200J entered service replacing many locomotive-hauled trains.
Rolling stock
China Railway High-speed runs different electric multiple unit trainsets, the name Hexie Hao () is for designs which are imported from other nations and designated CRH-1 through CRH-5 and CRH380A(L), CRH380B(L), and CRH380C(L). CRH trainsets are intended to provide fast and convenient travel between cities. Some of the Hexie Hao train sets are manufactured locally through technology transfer, a key requirement for China. The signalling, track and support structures, control software, and station design are developed domestically with foreign elements as well. By 2010, the track system as a whole is predominantly Chinese. China currently holds many new patents related to the internal components of these trains, re-designed to allow the trains to run at higher speeds than the foreign designs allowed. However, these patents are only valid within China, and as such hold no international power. The weakness on intellectual property of Hexie Hao causes obstructions for China to export its high-speed rail related products, which lead to the development of the completely redesigned train brand called Fuxing Hao (), based on indigenous technologies.
The trainsets are as follows: Hexie (Harmony) CRH1 produced by Bombardier Transportation's joint venture Sifang Power (Qingdao) Transportation (BST), CRH1A, and CRH1B, nicknamed "Metro" or "Bread", derived from Bombardier's Regina; CRH1E, nicknamed "Lizard", is Bombardier's ZEFIRO 250 design CRH1A: sets consists of 8 cars; maximum operating speed of 250 km/h CRH1B: a modified 16-car version; maximum operating speed of 250 km/h CRH1E: a 16-car high-speed sleeper version; maximum operating speed of 250 km/h CRH2: nicknamed "Hairtail", derived from E2 Series 1000 Shinkansen CRH2A: In 2006, China unveiled CRH2, a modified version of the Japanese Shinkansen E2-1000 series. An order for 60 8-car sets had been placed in 2004, with the first few built in Japan, the rest produced by Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock in China. CRH2B: a modified 16-car version of CRH2; maximum operating speed of 250 km/h CRH2C (Stage one): a modified version of CRH2 with a maximum operating speed up to 300 km/h as a result of replacing two intermediate trailer cars with motored cars CRH2C (Stage two): a modified version of CRH2C (stage one) has a maximum operating speed up to 350 km/h by using more powerful motors CRH2E: a modified 16-car version of CRH2 with sleeping cars CRH3: nickname "Rabbit", derived from Siemens ICE3 (class 403); 8-car sets; maximum operating speed of 350 km/h CRH5A: derived from Alstom Pendolino ETR600; 8-car sets; maximum operating speed of 250 km/h CRH6: designed by CSR Puzhen and CSR Sifang, will be manufactured by CSR Jiangmen. It is designed to have two versions: one with a top operating speed of 220 km/h; the other with a top operating speed of 160 km/h. They will be used on 200 km/h or 250 km/h Inter-city High Speed Rail lines; planned to enter service by 2011 CRH380A; Maximum operating speed of 380 km/h. Developed by CSR based on CRH2 and manufactured by Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock; entered service in 2010 CRH380A: 8-car version CRH380AL: 16-car version CRH380B: upgraded version of CRH3; maximum operating speed of 380 km/h, manufactured by Tangshan Railway Vehicle and CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles; entered service in 2011 CRH380B: 8-car version CRH380BL: 16-car version CRH380CL: designed and manufactured by CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles. Maximum operating speed of 380 km/h; entered service in 2012 CRH380D: also named Zefiro 380; maximum operating speed of 380 km/h, manufactured by Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd.; entered service in 2012 CRH380D: 8-car version CRH380DL: 16-car version (Cancelled in place of additional CRH1A and Zefiro 250NG sets) CRH1A, B, E, CRH2A, B, E, and CRH5A are designed for a maximum operating speed (MOR) of 200 km/h and can reach up to 250 km/h. CRH3C and CRH2C designs have an MOR of 300 km/h, and can reach up to 350 km/h, with a top testing speed of more than 380 km/h. However, issues such as maintenance costs, comfort, and safety make the maximum speed of more than 380 km/h impractical and remain limiting factors.
Fuxing (Rejuvenation)