High-speed railways shorten distances, change lives  

“中國(guó)速度”開啟都市“同城”新時(shí)代

10年間，中國(guó)政府高度重視交通基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)，高鐵建設(shè)步伐明顯加快，不僅改變了民眾的時(shí)空觀念和生活方式，也擴(kuò)大了都市經(jīng)濟(jì)圈的“同城效應(yīng)”。隨著“1小時(shí)都市圈”、“2小時(shí)都市圈”等日益增多，異地工作族、異地養(yǎng)老族、異地購(gòu)房族隊(duì)伍不斷擴(kuò)大，加速了資金、技術(shù)、人才、管理等生產(chǎn)要素的跨地區(qū)流動(dòng)，加快了區(qū)域經(jīng)濟(jì)的“內(nèi)循環(huán)”。

Beijing (CNS) -- China's high-speed railway network has developing rapidly in the last decade, changing ways of life as well as shrinking the distances between cities and expanding metropolitan sprawl.

The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway is the world's longest and boasts the highest technical advancements. It has carried 52.6 million passengers since it started formal operations on June 30 2011.

Metropolitan areas now within a one or two hour commute from each other have condensed the circulation of capital, technology, skilled workers and other factors, conditions facilitated by this high-end transportation network that have stimulated and enhanced economic management.

The first and most obvious example is the Beijing-Tianjin inter-city fast train put into operation in August 2011, which has shortened the trip between the two cities to a half hour hop.

Despite the benefits and advantages they offer, China's high-speed railways are faced with heavy loans which will turn especially risky after 2015. Safety concerns loom as well, which have been reiterated again and again at the highest levels of the administration, in particular after the Wenzhou tragedy.

The state plan is to complete 16,000 km of high speed rail transit lines nationwide by 2020, on eight routes covering a greater distance than that achieved by any other country. Half the eight lines will be constructed on east-west meridians and half from south to north.