Is China’s High-Speed Rail Boom Unsustainable?

In the last two decades, China has built over 30,000 miles of high-speed rail, reports Brian Spegele in MSN News. “The plan sticks to a well-worn economic model built on maintaining growth through infrastructure spending—even though China already has much of what it needs.”

However, the country’s rail operator has amassed nearly $1 trillion in debt and liabilities, and questions are being raised about how necessary many of the new rail lines, particularly those running to rural areas, are. “The line connecting Shanghai and the tech hub of Hangzhou, home to Alibaba, drew an average of around 100,000 passenger trips every day during its first decade between 2010 and 2020, according to state media.” But a similar line in rural Fushun County only reported roughly 9,000 daily trips, and some rural lines replicate existing services, rendering them unnecessary. 

According to Spegele, “China is now practically duplicating some routes. High-speed trains have operated for years between the inland cities of Chongqing and Kunming, a journey that takes about five hours. China State Railway says a new $20 billion line being built between the cities, following a different path, will cut travel time to about two hours, while supporting the regional economy and promoting national unity.”