China also plans to develop inter-city high-speed railways covering economically developed and densely populated cities and towns, such as the Bobai Sea Rim, Yangtze River Delta, Chongqing and Chengdu areas and the west bank of the Taiwan Straits. Those inter-city rails will link relatively smaller cities and towns to the eight major high-speed railways.

The MOR plan shows the ultimate goal of China's high-speed railways is to form a one- to two-hour transportation network between neighboring provincial capital cities, and half- and one-hour transportation networks between provincial capital cities and other cities in the province.

After the completion of these major railway lines, it will take no more than eight hours to travel from Beijing to the majority of provincial capitals.

High-Speed Projects

Existing railways:

With speeds reaching 350 km per hour

- Beijing-Tianjin: 120 km, started operating on August 1, 2008

- Wuhan-Guangzhou: 1,069 km, started operating on December 26, 2009

- Zhengzhou-Xi'an: 485 km, started operating on January 27, 2010

With speeds reaching 250 km per hour

- Hefei-Wuhan: 350 km in length, started operating on April 1, 2009

- Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan: 212 km, started operating on April 1, 2009

- Hefei-Nanjing: 166 km, started operating on April 18, 2009

- Jinan-Qingdao: 394 km, started operating on December 20, 2008

- Ningbo-Wenzhou: 268 km, started operating on September 28, 2009

- Wenzhou-Fuzhou: 302 km, started operating on September 28, 2009

- Fuzhou-Xiamen: 276 km, started operating on April 26, 2010

Railways under construction:

- Harbin-Dalian: to connect Harbin, Shenyang and Dalian in northeast China; speeds reaching 300-350 km per hour; 950 km in length; expected to be launched in 2013.

- Beijing-Shanghai: to connect Beijing and Shanghai via Jinan, Xuzhou and Nanjing; speeds reaching 350 km per hour; 1,318 km in length; expected to be launched in 2012.

- Beijing-Guangzhou: from Beijing to Guangzhou via Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Wuhan and Changsha; 2,200 km in length; speeds reaching 250 km per hour. The Wuhan-Guangzhou section has already been put into operation. The rest of the line is expected to be completed in 2012.

- Shanghai-Shenzhen (southeast coastal railways): to connect Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Shenzhen; 1,650 km in length; speeds reaching 250 km per hour; expected to be completed in 2011.

- Qingdao-Taiyuan: to connect the east and the north, from Qingdao to Taiyuan via Shijiazhuang; 770 km in length; speeds reaching 250 km per hour. The Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan section and Qingdao-Jinan section have already been completed. The rest of the line will be finished by 2020.

- Xuzhou-Lanzhou: to connect Xuzhou, Zhengzhou, Xi'an and Lanzhou; 1,400 km in length; speeds reaching 250 km per hour. The Zhengzhou-Xi'an section has been put into operation, while a construction timeframe for the rest of the railway has yet to be determined.

- Shanghai-Chengdu (along the Yangtze River): to connect Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu; 1,900 km in length; speeds reaching 200-350 km per hour. It will become a major transportation route from east to west China after its completion in 2011.

- Shanghai-Kunming: to connect Shanghai and Kunming via Hangzhou, Nanchang and Changsha; 2,264 km in length; speeds reaching 250 km per hour; expected to be put into operation in 2015.

(Source: Ministry of Railways)