In the aftermath of the Line 10 subway car collision that occurred due to faulty train signals, information is coming to light regarding the provider of Shanghai Metro's signaling technology. more ›

This sort of thing would be absurd in some other country besides China, where it can be neatly filed under 'business as usual.' A railway overpass on the Beijing to Fuzhou high-speed rail line recently completed construction, and just happens to now loom over a residential complex in Shuangdun, a small town outside the Anhui capital of Hefei. more ›

Though the rumors had been kicking around for a while, an official report from CCTV confirms that the Shanghainese former deputy chief engineer for the Ministry of Railways Zhang Shuguang (张曙光) kept overseas deposits worth $2.8 billion USD. In contrast, former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun (刘志军, he of the 18 mistresses), made off with only a piddling $155 million USD worth of red-packet money. more ›

God/Allah/Buddha/老天爷 has spoken, and it would appear that zhe isn't too hot on this high-speed rail hullabaloo. The superficially shiny bauble that is the new high-speed rail network could not possibly be faring worse than it is right now, barring any new revelations alleging that the free 5100 Tibetan Spring mineral water given out on high-speed journeys is chock full of the cancer. Another 20 Beijing-Shanghai trains were affected by a power failure yesterday evening, with over 6,000 ornery and jittery passengers delayed for three hours. more ›

"The lights suddenly went off. The carriage first shook from left to right, then started turning up and down. People were constantly flipping over, my husband was yelling loudly for me to grab our things, but I didn't grab anything. When everything stopped, my husband was laying on the bottom, I was in the middle, and our grandson was at the top. We didn't know what was going on then, but in my heart there was an idea to quickly jump out. I told my grandson, 'You run! It's fine if grandma dies.'" more ›

Okay, it's not really Po the panda, but still: dressing up as Po to propose marriage on the Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail is awesome any way you slice it. On July 5th, a cosplay enthusiast proposed to his girlfriend of over three years, who he called 'the most important person in my life', freaking her out with his repeated pawings before going for the big reveal. Apparently it was all organized on Weibo! more ›

The ultra-modern, best of the best, spickity span high-tech Shanghai-Beijing Bullet train is now once again mired in controversy. more ›

The Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail link experienced two malfunctions yesterday that resulted in over an hour delay. At times, the cabins were even plunged into complete darkness! Massive bummer for these rigorously trained rail girls - can't really blame them for the glitch, can you? Like the laowai girl says, just relax! more ›

In about a month you will be able to travel from Shanghai to Beijing and back both super fast and in style! With speeds of over 200 kmph and up to 300kmph, the 1,318-kilometer-long journey between the two cities will be cut in half, from ten to five hours. Originally, the speed was planned to be as much as 350 kmph, but for safety and other reasons, the trains have been slowed down. more ›

For those getting on any high-speed train after June 1st, here's a list of the new rules for buying tickets from Shanghai Daily: more ›

"Local media reports that construction of the Kunming to Singapore high speed railway is expected to start in April 2011 and to to be completed in 2020. Following the completion of the line, it will take only ten hours to travel by rail between the two destinations. Initially the line will start from Kunming, run through Mohan and Wanrong, and end in Vientiane, Laos. Construction has already started on the Mohan railway logistics center. According to the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network, this is part of the Trans-Asian Railway's Southeast Asia network. It will extend to Bangkok in Thailand, run through Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and end in Singapore. The completed line will be 3,900 kilometers long." [Global Times via Sina] more ›

Recently plagued by corruption scandals and constantly overshadowed by completion deadlines, it certainly is easy to forget about the living force propelling China's high-speed rail network forward. We are witnessing the second-largest public works program in history, after the interstate system in America, and the human aspect is all but lost when thinking in numbers like one trillion RMB and 120,000 km.Thanks to Youth Times (年青时报) photographer Wang Xinke, one part of this process, the Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed rail link completed in October of 2010, has been recorded for posterity. more ›

Seems like every week another update comes in about China and its love for high-speed trains and yes, it's good news again! The Beijing-Shanghai rail link opening date which was originally scheduled for 2012 has been bumped up to mid-June. So midway of this year, you'll be able to satisfy your need for speed with something as simple as a train trip to Beijing on the fastest train in the world. more ›

China has announced that it is aiming to break the high-speed rail world record by next year, less than a week after it set an operating speed record on a test run on the Beijing-Shanghai line (486.1km/h). The current high-speed world record was set at 574.8km/h by France's TGV (Train Grande Vitesses) in April 2007. It wasn't noted where they would do the upstaging, but it may be on the proposed high-speed rail network that would link China to Southeast Asia. more ›

Is an hour-and-a-half just too long a trip? Then you'll be happy to hear that the new high-speed train between Shanghai and Hangzhou started its trail operation yesterday, which will cut the travel time from here to China's prettiest city to just 38 minutes. The train has set world speed records of 416.6 km/hour and will officially open in late October. more ›

Getting from here to Nanjing could take about as long (or even less time) than getting from Hongqiao to Jinqiao come this July. The "world's fastest railway," which runs at 350kmph begins testing in May, will cut down travel time between the two cities from two-and-a-half hours right now to just 52 minutes. That's fast! Unfortunately, the rise in speed also means a rise in prices: tickets are expected to be 150RMB, compared with 93RMB right now. more ›

While everyone was getting excited about a high-speed rail to Beijing... and Hong Kong, it seems like the Chinese transportation authorities had even grander plans: they are now holding negotiations to build a track into India and Europe. The network could carry passengers from London to Beijing at 200mph (which would take two days) or onto Singapore if they had an extra three days to spare. One consultant was optimistic that the networks could be completed in a decade. Yeah, don't hold your breath on that time table. more ›

• Now that Google's revealed its worries about China hacking into people's emails accounts. It seems like everyone's realizing that their email accounts are being hacked or trying to be hacked into by China. Huh. [Ars Technica]
• Chinese directors feel super insecure after Avatar, which has earned $1.1 billion USD so far in China. Well, guys, that's the power of Cameron. [China Daily]
• When it comes to big renewable energy deals, Red China ought to be called Green China, says Todd Woody. [Grist]

China has a moratorium on building golf courses, so how are we now getting 22 of them that take up an area 1.5 times the size of Manhattan on Hainan Island? Shanghaiist founding editor Dan Washburn takes an in depth look at Mission Hills Hainan. [Financial Times Weekend Magazine] more ›

All hail the Beijing-Shanghai railway! The bullet train runnin' monstrosity, which will cut the commute between China's two biggest cities down from 10 hours to four, is on the track for completion in 2011 and for operation by 2012. Already, its projected to be one of the busiest and most profitable railways in China... nay, the world! As proof, an official said that a similar high-speed line, the Beijing to Tianjin route, sells out over 70% of its tickets and will recover the cost of building in about 16 years. Besides being able to rub its profitability in Amtrack's face, we couldn't give a hoot about the finances. We're just excited that we'll be able to take by-train day trips to Beijing in the near future. more ›