China has a goal to be the world’s leading exporter of high-speed rail and mass transit products.
If China is successful, it would be a significant contribution to the world; fast, efficient and reliable railways, which is lacking in many areas of the world.
China is certainly capable of achieving this. By the end 2013, it has more than 10,880 km of high-speed rail, with another 12,000 km currently under construction. UBS’s research reports that “China has the largest high-speed rail network in the world, with a total of more than 20,000+ kilometers [12,400+ miles] high-speed passenger-dedicated lines scheduled to be operational by end-2015.”
In August 2013,
BCA Research reported a big increase in China’s urban subway systems; the “length of light rail and metro will be extended by 40 percent in 2015, and tripled by 2020.”
China possesses very comprehensive technology for HSR systems, excellent integration capability, the longest operating HSR route, the fastest HSR operating speeds and the largest HSR network.
In China, it is estimated that about $80 to 85 billion per year up to 2020 will be spent on new rail projects and another $18 billion per year on rail upgrades.
Some foreign existing and potential projects:-
# In India, a $33 billion, 1,090-mile high-speed rail connecting Delhi and Chennai.
# In Nigeria, a $12 billion, 870-mile rail system from Lagos to Calabar.
# In Russia, a proposed $230 billion HSR linking Beijing and Moscow, estimated distance 4,350 miles.
# In Ethiopia, a $17.6 million contract to supply 41 modern tramcars.
# In South Africa, an order for 232 diesel locomotives worth $930 million.
# In South America, Peru and Brazil may build a railway from Peru Pacific coast to Brazil Atlantic coast.
# In US, Massachusetts awarded a $567 million contract to build 284 train cars for Boston’s subway system.
# In California, a bid for HSR from San Francisco to Los Angeles, 1,300+ km estimated more than $68 billion.
# In Laos, a HSR project worth $6.8 billion, 420 km linking Vientiane to Kunming, China.
# In Malaysia, a bid for a 340 km HSR linking Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
# In Thailand, the military junta restarted two HSR projects worth $14 billion linking Thailand to Kunming, China.
# In Mexico, a re-bid worth $4 billion, 208 km HSR from Mexico City to Queretaro.