China’s high-speed rail surpasses all of the world combined

by New Rules [12-30-2025].

China's high-speed rail (HSR) network has officially exceeded 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles) with the launch of the Xi'an-Yan'an line on December 26, surpassing the combined HSR mileage of the rest of the world.

This makes China's HSR the largest, fastest, and most advanced network globally.

China's HSR

🔸 Covers 97% of cities with over 500,000 urban population

🔸 Enables 1-2 hour travel within 500 km urban clusters, 4 hours for 1,000km (620mile) trips, and same-day round trips for 2,000km (1,624mi) journeys

🔸 Handles up to 16 million passengers daily

The new 299km Xi'an-Yan'an HSR cuts travel time between the two cities to just 68 minutes (62 minutes faster than before), operating at a speed up to 350 km/h.

Since 2021, China has added ~12,000km (7,440mi) of HSR, extending to 128 counties and boosting economic corridors through better flow of people, info, and capital.

At the end of 2024, China rolled out the CR450 EMU prototype with superior performance in energy efficiency, lower interior noise, and shorter braking distances.

During testing, the train achieved a staggering relative passing speed of 896 km/h (555mph) — a new global record and the first top-level technical benchmark for 400 km/h-class (248mph) high-speed rail.