The Chinese High-Speed Rail network had already reached 40,000 km by 2021 (at around 70% globally) and will be in excess of 45,000 km by 2030 (the length of the Earth’s equator) before near-doubling to 70,000 km by 2035.

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$300 billion has been invested in high-speed rail to connect 95% of cities with a population of over one million (and 93% for 500,000) creating a $125 billion domestic market operating almost 10,000 high-speed trains daily including along even 350 km/h driverless routes. 

 

Domestic maglev R&D is already developing up to 1,000 km/h speeds (that could eventually scale even 4,000 km/h) with China already constituting almost half of global patents by 2021.  

 

China is now exporting high-speed rail globally as part of the Digital Silk Road under the Belt and Road Initiative. The $75 billion 6,617 km 240 km/h Pan-Asia High-Speed Railway (Kunming-Singapore Rail Link) for South-East Asia will be fully operational by 2025. 

 

There are also for example the already operational $6.1 billion 142 km 350 km/h Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (October 2023), the $3 billion 350 km 200 km/h Budapest-Belgrade High-Speed Railway (via Piraeus, Greece) by 2025, and the $35 billion 770 km 400 km/h Moscow-Kazan High-Speed Railway (eventually via Beijing) as well as the $15 billion 1,872 km 160 km/h Karachi-Peshawar High-Speed Railway by 2030. 

 

Find out more about the future of High-Speed Rail in Digital Provinces Guide: Countdown to the Chinese Century, Dawn of the Digital Dragon Dynasty: Countdown to the Chinese Century, and Dawn of the Digital Dragon Dynasty: Global Economy in Shop.