World's Longest High-Speed Highway In China!

             

The world's longest high speed rail route opens today in China, covering a distance of 1,427 miles (2,298km) between Beijing in the north and Guangzhou on the country's southern coast.

The line will carry new bullet-style trains at speeds of up to 220mph (350kph) and reduce the travel time from 22 hours to just eight hours.

There are 35 stops along the route in major cities spanning the length of the country including Shijiazhuang, capital of northern China's Hebei Province; Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan; Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province; and Changsha, in Hunan Province.

The building cost has not been revealed, but it was built in a fraction of the time it has taken to build the Crossrail system in London, which spans a distance - through new tunnels - of 13 miles (21km) and is not due for completion until 2017, and the new UK High Speed Two (HS2), which is still awaiting the construction green light.

But China does not have the planning regulations required for UK projects and there is not as much concern about the environmental considerations.

China currently has 5,350 miles (8,600km) of operating high-speed railway, more than any other nation in the world. The plan is to extend the rail network to a staggering 9,950 miles (16,000km) of track by 2015.

In a statement, China's ministry of railways said: "This service marks a significant milestone of our high-speed rail construction. It will ease pressure on the rail transport between Beijing and Guangzhou, especially during the peak Chinese New Year holiday."

Source: Sky News

While China continues to fly forwards, not waiting for anybody, our dear Nigeria just manages to crawl. . . backwards!

We're still watching to see how well the Lagos-Kano rail project will do. It seems they're unaware of the huge potentials inherent in having multiple, fuctional, inter-state, long-route rail systems. They're ignorant of the huge pressure such a system will lift off the other modes of transport, especially our painfully inadequate air transport.

Not to mention the reduction in deaths and ease of traffic congestion on our roads.

They know these things: we TELL them: They listen. . . and they keep QUIET.

Let's just continue to watch China. . . and cough and sputter in the wake of their smoke streams as they hurtle forward. . .

. . . Into the future.