Rail transport in China

China
Clockwise from top left: A CR400BF Fuxing Hao trainset; a CRH5 Hexie (Harmony) trainset; a DF4B diesel locomotive and a SS3 electric locomotive
Operation
Major operators	China State Railway Group Company, Limited
Statistics
Ridership	3.660 billion passenger trips (2014)[1]
Passenger km	1,470.66 billion passenger-kilometres (2014)[1]
Freight	4.389 billion tonnes[1]
System length
Total	155,000 km (96,000 mi) (2022)[2][a]
Double track	83,000 km (52,000 mi) (2014)[1]
Electrified	100,000 km (62,000 mi) (2014)[1]
High-speed	42,000 km (26,000 mi) (2022)[2]
Track gauge
Main	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
High-speed	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge	79,685 kilometres (49,514 mi) (1998)
1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge	466 kilometres (290 mi)
750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)	3,600 kilometres (2,200 mi) (1998 est.)
Features
No. tunnels	16,084 (2019)
Tunnel length	18,041 kilometres (11,210 mi) (2019)[3]
Longest tunnel	Songshanhu Tunnel 38.813 kilometres (24.117 mi)
No. bridges	47,524 (2008)[4]
Longest bridge	Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge 164.8 kilometres (102.4 mi)
No. stations	5,470 (2008)[4]
Highest elevation	5,072 metres (16,640 ft)[5]
at	Tanggula Pass
Map

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Rail transport is an important mode of long-distance transportation in China. As of 2024, the country had more than 159,000 km (98,798 mi)^[6][a][7] of railways, the second longest network in the world.^[2][8] By the end of 2023, China had more than 45,000 kilometres (27,962 miles) of high-speed rail (HSR), the longest HSR network in the world.^{[9][2][8][10]}

The railway sector in China is essentially operated by the central government. Almost all rail operations are handled by the China State Railway Group Company, Limited, a state-owned company created in March 2013 (as China Railway Corporation) after the dissolution of the Ministry of Railways. It was converted into a joint-stock company and placed under the control of the Ministry of Finance in June 2019.

China's railways are the busiest in the world. In 2019, railways in China delivered 3.660 billion passenger trips, generating 1,470.66 billion passenger-kilometres and carried 4.389 billion tonnes of freight, generating 3,018 billion cargo tonne-kilometres.^[1] Freight traffic turnover has increased more than fivefold over the period 1980–2013 and passenger traffic turnover has increased more than sevenfold over the same period.^[11] During the five years 2016–2020, China's railway network handled 14.9 billion passenger trips, 9 billion of which were completed by bullet trains, the remaining 5.9 billion by conventional rail. The three figures surged 41 percent (from 10.6 to 14.9 billion), 152 percent (from 3.6 to 9 billion) and decreased 16 percent (from 7 to 5.9 billion) from those during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, respectively.^[12]

Driven by need to increase freight capacity, the railway network has expanded with the country budgeting $130.4 billion for railway investment in 2014, and has a long-term plan to expand the network to 274,000 km (170,000 mi) by 2050. China built 9,000 km of new railway in 2015.^[13]