Sustaining life in the largest country in the world requires speed, efficiency, and up-to-date technology. Imagine if China had none of these things. Would it be able to continue to produce record amounts of exports and handle over a million people? Definitely not.
As the largest country in Asia, China has a wide amount of territory to be covered. Traveling efficiently is important in such a large country as China. No one wants to spend days traveling just to get to another part of their country.
Getting Around China
Getting Around China
Over the past decade, movement in and around the country has been made much easier thanks to China’s high-speed train. As the fastest train in the world, the Chinese are able to travel quicker on land than any other population in the world.
In modern times, traveling by train has always been a popular and convenient way to get from one place to the next. Especially in China, where there is a large amount of ground to travel, taking the train makes sense economically and comfort-wise. However, the railroad system was steadily losing business to air travel. Airlines were not giving profits to the Chinese local and national government so they figured they needed a way to stop losing money and regain profits from their citizens traveling.
China’s train wasn’t always the fastest in the world. The most popular train that traveled through China was fast, similar to the Amtrak or MARC train. But this wasn’t fast enough. With increasing technology resources and innovations, the Chinese wanted to make their train even faster and even more efficient.
How Did They Do It?
Every plan of action has to start somewhere. China’s first step in building the fastest train in the world was to initiate the “Speed Up” campaign. This was not your typical campaign full of propaganda, but rather a plan of ways to improve the railroad system to make it even faster and more efficient. “Speed Up” began in 1997 and lasted 10 years until 2007. The “Speed Up” campaign had six steps to achieve its goal.
Every plan of action has to start somewhere. China’s first step in building the fastest train in the world was to initiate the “Speed Up” campaign. This was not your typical campaign full of propaganda, but rather a plan of ways to improve the railroad system to make it even faster and more efficient. “Speed Up” began in 1997 and lasted 10 years until 2007. The “Speed Up” campaign had six steps to achieve its goal.
- Double tracking - Double tracking means to build two tracks, one running in either direction to avoid delays based on trains needing to go in different directions.
- Electrification - The most expensive step, electrification is a way to power the train cars using electricity. Electric power allows the trains to accelerate faster and carry less weight.
- Decreasing slope - By building bridges and tunnels, the Chinese were able to decrease the slope of which trains had to climb, causing the trains to slow down.
- Reducing curve angles - Similar to the third step, the curvature of turns in the train track system were made less to increase speed.
- Continuous welding of the train tracks - All the train tracks were welded together so that trains are able to move more smoothly and continuously along the tracks.
- Separating cargo train and passenger train tracks - Having a clear separation of tracks that are solely for cargo trains and passenger trains reduces delays caused by the different speeds of the different types of trains.
A World Forever Changed
“Speed Up” significantly changed the Chinese high-speed rail system. Over the course of ten years and with the help of the six steps, the trains increased from 30mph to 100mph. Clearly this was a huge change. I mean can you imagine the time saved for travelers and commuters? Train riders saved time and were able travel farther in less time. “Speed Up” helped to generate more revenue for the Chinese government just because of six steps. Even though it took ten years, the time it took to implement these steps was well worth it.
“Speed Up” significantly changed the Chinese high-speed rail system. Over the course of ten years and with the help of the six steps, the trains increased from 30mph to 100mph. Clearly this was a huge change. I mean can you imagine the time saved for travelers and commuters? Train riders saved time and were able travel farther in less time. “Speed Up” helped to generate more revenue for the Chinese government just because of six steps. Even though it took ten years, the time it took to implement these steps was well worth it.
The “Speed Up” campaign forever changed transportation. It helped to jump start the innovation and creation of the fastest train in the world. Who knows where the Chinese railway would be right now if it hadn’t been for the “Speed Up” campaign. This is one of the least known but most successful campaigns in the world of technology. The Chinese responded enthusiastically to this campaign and look what it produced! The “Speed Up” campaign led to so many more inventions and ideas that have been put into production and are still being produced at this time.
“Speed Up” not only sped up the Chinese railway system but also the transportation and technology industry!
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