Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail
Encyclopedia
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The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway is a high-speed rail
High-speed rail in China
High-speed rail in China refers to any commercial train service in the China with an average speed of or higher. By that measure, China has the world's longest high-speed rail network with about of routes in service as of June 2011 including of rail lines with top speeds of...
, passenger-dedicated line between Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The 117 km line was built to accommodate trains traveling at a maximum speed of 350 km/h (217 mph), and currently carries CRH high-speed
China Railway High-speed
China Railway High-speed ; ) is the high-speed rail system operated by China Railways.Hexie Hao is the designation for high-speed trains running on this rail system. At the middle of the run, all trains were marked "CRH" on the centre of the head vehicle and the side of the walls of each vehicle...
trains running speeds up to 330 km/h (205 mph). When the line opened on August 1, 2008, it set the record for the fastest conventional train service in the world by top speed, and reduced travel time between the two largest cities in northern China from 70 to 30 minutes.
Route & Stations
Beijing south railway station
The current Beijing South Railway Station is a large railway station on the south side of Beijing that opened on August 1, 2008. The new station replaced the old Beijing South Station, first known as the Majiapu Railway Station and later known as the Yongdingmen Railway Station before 1988, which...
, the line runs in a southeasterly direction, following the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu Expressway
Jingjintang Expressway
Opened in September 1993, the Jingjintang Expressway , also known as the Jingtang Expressway, links Beijing via central Tianjin to the Tanggu District in eastern Tianjin...
to Tianjin
Tianjin Railway Station
The Tianjin Railway Station is the principal railway station in Tianjin, China. It was built in 1888, was rebuilt in 1987-1988, and restructured in 2007-2008....
. It has three intermediate stations at Yizhuang
Yizhuang Railway Station
Yizhuang Railway Station is a railway station on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway in Beijing, China. The railway station is connected to the Yizhuang Railway Station Subway Station on the Beijing Subway's Yizhuang Line and is expected to enter service along with the Subway line...
, Yongle
Yongle Railway Station
Yongle Railway Station is a railway station on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway in Beijing, China. At present, only track alignments for the stop are in place; basic platforms are available but the stations remains largely unbuilt. It lies next to the Yongle Toll Gate on the S15 Jingjin...
(not yet fully built) and Wuqing
Wuqing Railway Station
Wuqing Railway Station is a railway station on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway in Tianjin, China. It is the only midway stop presently open to intercity railway traffic. The only trains calling at Wuqing are those with train numbers between C2201 and C2268.Wuqing Railway Station is some...
. The line currently uses the Jinshan Railway for some extended services to Tanggu.
The line will eventually be extended further east from Tianjin to Tanggu. As an intercity line, it will only provide train service between the two metropolitan areas, unlike the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, a separate line under construction, which will also connect the two cities, but continue further south to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
.
The Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway has a current length of 116.939 km (fare mileage: 120 km), of which roughly 100 km is built on viaducts and the last 17 kilometres on an embankment. The elevated track ensures level tracks over uneven terrain and eliminates at-grade road crossings.
Service
The line opened on August 1, 2008 with 47 daily pairs of intercity trains between Beijing South
Beijing south railway station
The current Beijing South Railway Station is a large railway station on the south side of Beijing that opened on August 1, 2008. The new station replaced the old Beijing South Station, first known as the Majiapu Railway Station and later known as the Yongdingmen Railway Station before 1988, which...
and Tianjin
Tianjin Railway Station
The Tianjin Railway Station is the principal railway station in Tianjin, China. It was built in 1888, was rebuilt in 1987-1988, and restructured in 2007-2008....
. Since September 14, 2008, 10 more pairs of trains were added, reducing the minimum interval from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. On September 24, 2008, 4 pairs of trains extended to Tanggu. On September 28, 2008, 2 more pairs of trains were added into service.
These intercity trains are designated by the prefixed "C" (城) followed by four digits, from C2001 to C2298. Of these, C2001–C2198 are non-stop trains from Beijing South to Tianjin. The odd numbers for trains departing from Beijing South and even numbers for those running to Beijing South. Trains numbered C2201–C2268 are trains from Beijing South and Tianjin that stop at on the way at Wuqing and Yizhuang stations. Trains C2271–C2298 run from Beijing South to Tanggu.
In addition to the intercity service 13 pairs of trains were diverted to this line from the preexisting Beijing-Shanghai (Jinghu) Railway
Jinghu railway
The Beijing–Shanghai Railway or Jinghu railway is a railway line in China between Beijing and Shanghai. The line has a total length of 1,462 kilometres and connects the municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, as well as the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu...
, including trains from Beijing South to Jinan
Jinan
Jinan is the capital of Shandong province in Eastern China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilisation and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub...
, Qingdao
Qingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, and Tianjin West. These Jinghu Line trains retain their D-prefix as before.
A pair of special track examination train (numbered DJ01/02) run every day in the morning before any regular trains into service. A track-measuring train (numbered DJ5581/2) runs every ten days. In summary, there are 62 pairs of train in service, 60 of them for passengers.
Tickets
Three classes of seats are available on Beijing-Tianjin intercity trains:- Deluxe one-way: ¥99 (about €10 or $15 US). Deluxe seats are only available on CRH3 trains. They are located near the tail of trains, with eight seats per train.
- First Class one-way: ¥69 (about €7 or $10 US).
- Second Class: ¥58 (€6, $8 US).
Intercity train fares are more expensive than slower trains on preexisting lines.
Technical information
The line is the first railway in China to be built for speeds above 300 km/h running. This railway line allows speeds up to 350 km/h. A trip between Beijing and Tianjin takes 30 minutes.Rolling Stock
With effect from mid-2009, only CRH3 trains are used for intercity services on the line. For longer distance trains from Beijing South to Ji'nan, Qingdao, Shanghai and Yangliuqing, slower CRH2A (200 km/h, overspeed to 250 km/h on the line) are used as before.Signaling system
The signaling system is built around Simis W electronic interlockings, Vicos operations control system and ETCS Level 1 train control system.Overhead catenary system
The catenary system in use is Sicat HA, aluminum cantilever, powered by two sub-stations at 25kV 50Hz AC.Speed record
On June 24, 2008 a Chinese conventional-wheeled train speed record was set on the line when a Siemens VelaroSiemens Velaro
Siemens Velaro is a family of high-speed EMU trains used in Europe and China. The Velaro is based on Deutsche Bahn's ICE 3 high-speed trains, but is a full Siemens product unlike the ICE 3 which involved other manufacturers....
-derived China Railways CRH3
China Railways CRH3
The CRH3 is a version of the Siemens Velaro high-speed train used in China on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Rail line, Wuhan-Guangzhou Passenger Dedicated Line, Zhengzhou-Xi'an Passenger Dedicated Line and the Shanghai–Nanjing High-Speed Railway...
train reached 394.3 km/h.
History
Construction of the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity High-Speed Rail Line began on July 4, 2005. In April 2006, Siemens and its consortium partners EEB (Electrification Engineering Bureau) and CRSC (China National Railway Signal & Communication Corporation) were awarded a contract by the Chinese Ministry of Railways (MoR) to supply and install the signaling systems, communications equipment and power supplies as well as the overhead line and to take over responsibility for system integration and overall project management.On May 11, 2007 the first interlocking container for the Beijing-Tianjin line left the Siemens factory in Brunswick, Germany. (This container had been the 1000th container shipped from the factory overall).
Ridership
The line opened on August 1, 2008 just before the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which held some football matches in Tianjin. The introduction of high speed rail service significantly boosted rail travel between the two cities. In 2007, conventional train service between Beijing and Tianjin delivered 8.3 million rides. In the first year of high-speed rail service, from August 2008 to July 2009, total rail passenger volume between Beijing and Tianjin reached 18.7 million, of which 15.85 million rode the Intercity trains. Meanwhile, during the same period, ridership on intercity buses fell by 36.8%. As of September 2010, daily ridership averaged 69,000 or an annual rate of 25.2 million. The line has a capacity of delivering 100 million rides annually and initial estimated repayment period of 16 years.Though impressive for preliminary years, the figures are still less than 32 million annual passengers recorded for the Taiwan High Speed Rail
Taiwan High Speed Rail
Taiwan High Speed Rail is a high-speed rail line that runs approximately along the west coast of the Republic of China from the national capital of Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung...
, and far behind Tokaido Shinkansen line of Japan with a current average of 360,000 passengers daily and 4.9 billion cumulative passengers carried.
Finances
The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway cost ¥20.42 billion to build and was financed by China’s Ministry of Railways and the governments of Beijing and Tianjin. As of 2010, the line cost ¥1.8 billion per annum to operate, including ¥0.6 billion in interest payments on its ¥10 billion of loan obligations. The terms of the loans range from 5-10 years at interest rates of 6.3 to 6.8 percent. In its first year of operation from August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009, the line generated ¥1.1 billion in revenues on 18.7 million rides delivered and incurred a loss of ¥0.7 billion. In the second year, ridership rose to 22.3 million and revenues improved to ¥1.4 billion, which narrowed to below ¥0.5 billion. To break even, the line must deliver 30 million rides annually. To be able to repay principal, ridership would need to exceed 40 million.External links
- Beijing - Tianjin elevated line anticipates 350 km/h, Railway Gazette InternationalRailway Gazette InternationalRailway Gazette International is a monthly business journal covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport professionals and decision makers, railway managers, engineers, consultants...
March 2006 - Beijing-Tianjin High-Speed Commuter Link, China
- Beijing-Tianjin High-Speed Train Schedule