China Railway

China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (), short form China Railway (CR), is the state-owned rail transport operator and rail infrastructure manager in Mainland China.

China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout China with 18 regional bureaus. China has the highest railway ridership in the world.

History China Railway Corporation was established in 2013 to be responsible for railroad construction, operation, and maintenance.

Under the Chinese Corporate Law, China Railway Corporation was reorganized into China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. on 18 June 2019. This meant the Ministry of Finance would act as an investor on behalf of the state and the company would be led by a board and managed by board-chosen executives.

By the end of 2019, China Railway employed 2 million people and operated 139,900 km of railroads, of which 35,388 are high-speed railroads.

Passenger services China Railway operates two main types of passenger rail services. Tickets for both types of trains are sold offline at ticket offices using the only national Ticketing and Reservation System (TRS), and online at China Railway's official online booking website, 12306.cn, and its associated mobile app, Railway 12306 (with both a Chinese interface and an English interface for use by foreigners). 12306.cn (and its app) is the only official online platform authorized to sell China Railway tickets.

China Railway High-speed (CRH)

China Railway High-speed (CRH) is a high-speed rail service operated by China Railway.

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.

In total, CRH operates over 3300 sets of rolling stock. Of which, over 1000 sets are Hexie trains including CRH1/2A/5 that are designed to have a maximum speed of , and CRH2C/3 have a maximum speed of . The indigenous designed CRH380A reached a maximum test speed of with commercial operation speed of 350 km/h. The 16 car variant, CRH380AL, additionally reached . The fastest train set, CRH380BL, attained a maximum test speed of . The remaining 2300 some sets are newer generation Fuxing trains. 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). Since then, many variants have been introduced covering a wide range of speeds from 160 km/h to 350 km/h. The CR brand is gradually replacing the current CRH brand in service. As of 2026, the CR450AF/BF, designed to be the first conventional trains to operate at 400 km/h, are undergoing testing on various newly constructed lines.

Depending on their speed, there are 3 categories of high speed trains: G, D and C. Most G trains and some C trains operate at 350 km/h, the fasted speed. D trains have a top speed of 250 km/h while most C trains have a top speed of 200 km/h.

China Railway Classic Rail

The China Railway Classic Rail network (), also known as conventional rail, forms the backbone of China Railway's railway system alongside the high-speed rail (HSR) network. These traditional railway lines operate at speeds below 160 km/h (99 mph) and serve a dual role in transporting both passengers and freight. Unlike the high-speed CRH (China Railway High-speed) services, which primarily use dedicated electrified tracks, Classic Rail consists of older lines that may be single or double-tracked, with varying degrees of electrification.

Historically, all Classic Rail trains were olive-green, leading to the nickname "green train" () to be used by laypeople. Since 2014, most Classic Rail trains that had other colours (white, red, blue) have been repainted olive-green. Classic Rail trains are also sometimes referred to as "slow trains" in English.

Classic Rail trains have significantly lower ticket prices compared to CRH trains and are a popular choice with travellers on a budget.

Logo

The China Railway logo was designed by Chen Yuchang () (1912–1969), officially adopted on 22 January 1950. The whole logo represents the front of a locomotive. The upper part of the logo represents the Chinese character 人 (rén, people). While the lower part represents the transversal surface of a rail as well as the character 工 (gōng, labour). Together, the logo emphasizes that China's railway belongs to working class people because of their labour.路徽的来历.

The "CR" logo is used on the Fuxing (train) along with the China Railway logo.天津站的复兴号CR400AF标准动车组. The "CRH" logo is used on the Hexie (train). On most C2 forestry locomotives, an adapted China Railway logo with a stylised version of the character 林 (lín, forest) is featured on a cast emblem.Turner, Robert D. The Last Steam Railways: Volume 1: the People’s Republic of China. Last Fire Within, 2022.

Companies

There are 21 primary subsidiary companies under China Railway. As of 2008, approximately two million people work in China Railway. Business Company Provinces of operation Regions of operationPassengerChina Railway Harbin Group Company(CR Harbin)Northeast ChinaChina Railway Shenyang Group Company(CR Shenyang)China Railway Beijing Group Company(CR Beijing)North ChinaChina Railway Hohhot Group Company(CR Hohhot)China Railway Taiyuan Group Company(CR Taiyuan)China Railway Jinan Group Company(CR Jinan)East ChinaChina Railway Shanghai Group Company(CR Shanghai)China Railway Nanchang Group Company(CR Nanchang)China Railway Guangzhou Group Company(CR Guangzhou)South ChinaChina Railway Nanning Group Company(CR Nanning)China Railway Wuhan Group Company(CR Wuhan)Central ChinaChina Railway Zhengzhou Group Company(CR Zhengzhou)China Railway Chengdu Group Company(CR Chengdu)Southwest ChinaChina Railway Kunming Group Company(CR Kunming)China Railway Qingzang Group Company(CR Qingzang)Northwest ChinaChina Railway Lanzhou Group Company(CR Lanzhou)China Railway Ürümqi Group Company(CR Ürümqi)China Railway Xi'an Group Company(CR Xi'an)FreightChina Railway Special Cargo Service Company(CRSCS) NationwideChina Railway Express Company(CRE)China Railway Container Transport Company(CRCT)

Second tier subsidiaries Parent Subsidiary Operational lineCR GuangzhouGuangshen Railway CompanyGuangzhou–Shenzhen railwayGuangmeishan Railway CompanyGuangzhou–Meizhou–Shantou railwaySanmao CompanySanshui–Maoming railwayShichang Railway CompanyShimen–Changsha railwayYuehai Railway CompanyGuangdong–Hainan railwayCR KunmingShuibai Railway CompanyLiupanshui–Baiguo railwayCR NanchangWuyishan Railway CompanyHengfeng–Nanping railwayQuanzhou Railway CompanyZhangping–Longyan–Kanshi railwayLongyan Railway CompanyZhangping–Quanzhou–Xiaocuo railwayXiamen Haicang Railway CompanyHaicang branch railwayCR ShanghaiXiaoyong Railway CompanyXiaoshan–Ningbo railwayHejiu Railway CompanyHefei–Jiujiang railwayXinchang Railway CompanyXinyi–Changxing railwayJinwen Railway CompanyJinhua–Wenzhou railwayNingqi Railway CompanyNanjing–Qidong railwayNinghe Railway CompanyHefei–Nanjing passenger railwayHewu Railway CompanyHefei–Wuhan railwayCR TaiyuanDaqin Railway CompanyDatong–Qinhuangdao railwayCR WuhanHuhanrong Railway Hubei CompanyShanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu high-speed railway (Hubei section)Luofu Railway CompanyLuohe–Fuyang railwayCR Xi'anXiyan Railway CompanyXi'an–Yan'an railwayCR ZhengzhouAnli Branch Line CompanyAnyang–Lizhen railwayTanghe Branch Line CompanyTangyin–Hebi railway

Corporate affairs

Business trends The key trends for the China Railway are (as of the financial year ending 31; all in CNY), +202120222023Revenue1.131.131.25Operating income -34.8−54.427.47Net income−49.9−69.63.30Total assets 8.929.209.53Total equity3.003.093.22

Partnership with Airlines China Railway has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Air China China Eastern Airlines

China Railway has Interline agreements with the following airlines: XiamenAir

International operations International trains

China Railway International Group Co., Ltd (CRIG) operates passenger trains from China to Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos.

Services to Europe (New Silk Route)

China Railway ran goods services to 15 European cities, including routes to Madrid and Hamburg and the experimental East Wind service to London to test demand. The Chinese government refers to the two-week route, starting at Yiwu and with trains to London traversing Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, as the Belt and Road Initiative. Containers must be transferred several times, as different, incompatible, rail gauges are used in different regions, and the same rolling stock cannot be used throughout.

Africa

China has been investing in and helping to rebuild railways in Africa. Below is an incomplete list of rail projects. Name Location Constructed Company CostComments & Ref High Plateau line, Algeria Relizane, Saida, Tiaret, Tissemsilt, Boughezoul to M'Sila, Algeria 2009–2013 China Railway Group & China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation US$2.8bn Benguela Railway Lobito to Luau, Angola 2006–2014 China Railway Construction Corporation Limited US$1.83bn Railway was rebuilt following civil war Chad Railway Ngaoundéré, Cameroon to Nyala, Sudan via Moundou, N'Djamena and Abéché in Chad 2012–ongoing China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation US$5.6bn Construction over three phases Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Djibouti City, Djibouti 2011–2016 China Railway Group & China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation US$4bn Electric Mombasa-Nairobi Railway Mombasa to Nairobi, Kenya (extended to Naivasha, Kenya in 2016 2014–2017 China Communications Construction US$3.6bn Kenya–Uganda border Naivasha, Kisumu to Malaba, Kenya 2016–ongoing China Road and Bridge Corporation (subsidiary of China Communications Construction) US$5.42bnMali–Guinea RailwayBamako, Mali to Conakry, Guinea 2016–ongoingChina Railway Construction Corporation Limited US$8bnMali–Senegal RailwayBamako, Mali to Dakar, Senegal 2016–ongoingChina Railway Construction Corporation Limited US$2.7bnNigeria Coastal RailwayLagos to Calabar, Nigeria 2014–ongoingChina Civil Engineering Construction Corporation US$11.1bnLagos–Kano RailwayLagos to Kano, Nigeria 2011–ongoing, Abuja to Kajuna completed in 2016China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation US$8.3bnSudan RailwayKhartoum to Port Sudan, Sudan 2007–2012, 2014 openedChina Railway Engineering Corporation US$1.5bn TAZARA Railway Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia 1970–1975 Railway Engineering Corps (now CRCC), Ministry of Railways (now CCECC) US$500m Currently in need of reinvestmentUganda RailwayMalaba, Kampala, Kasese, Uganda to Rwanda and South Sudan 2015–ongoingChina Harbour Engineering (subsidiary of China Communications Construction) US$8bn

List of directors general China Railway Corporation Sheng Guangzu (2013–2016) Lu Dongfu (2016–2018)

China State Railway Group Chairman Lu Dongfu (2018–2022) Liu Zhenfang (2022–2024) Guo Zhuxue (2024–present)

General Manager Yang Yudong (2018–2022) Guo Zhuxue (2022–2024) Song Xiude (2024–present)

Footnotes

China Railway

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