China released its medium- and long-term railway network plan

China plans to increase the length of high-speed rail from the current 19,000 kilometers to 38,000 kilometers over the next 10 years
.

By 2030, the total length of China's high-speed rail is expected to reach 45,000 kilometers
.
By then, the high-speed railway network will basically connect provincial capitals and other large and medium-sized cities with a population of more than 500,000, and realize a 1-4-hour traffic circle
between neighboring large and medium-sized cities.

China's National Development and Reform Commission issued the latest revision of the "Medium and Long-term Railway Network Plan"
in Beijing on the 20th.
Fei Zhirong, director of the Department of Basic Industries of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that by the end of 2015, China's railway operating mileage had reached 121,000 kilometers, including 19,000 kilometers of high-speed railways, achieving the original planning target
ahead of schedule.

He said that on the whole, the current shortage of railway transportation capacity in China has basically eased, bottlenecks and constraints have been basically eliminated, and it has basically met the needs of
economic and social development.
However, compared with the new situation and new requirements of railway development, there are still shortcomings
such as imperfect road network layout, operational efficiency to be improved, and prominent structural contradictions.

According to reports, the term of this "Plan" is 2016-2025, and the long-term outlook is 2030
.
The plan shows that by 2025, the scale of the railway network will reach about 175,000 kilometers, of which about
38,000 kilometers will be high-speed railways.
Looking forward to 2030, it will basically achieve internal and external interconnection, inter-regional multi-road unimpeded, provincial capital high-speed rail connectivity, prefecture and city rapid access, and basic county coverage
.

The plan consists of three parts
.
The first is the high-speed railway network: on the basis of the original planned "four vertical and four horizontal" main skeleton, add high-speed railways with passenger flow support, suitable standards and development needs, and make full use of existing railways to form a high-speed railway network
with the "eight vertical and eight horizontal" main passages as the skeleton, regional connection lines, and intercity railways supplemented.

The second is the general speed railway network: focusing on expanding the coverage of the central and western road networks, improving the layout of the eastern network, improving the quality of the existing road network, and promoting peripheral interconnection
.

The third is a comprehensive transportation hub: further optimize the layout of railway passenger and freight hubs, form a modern comprehensive transportation hub with supporting systems, integrated and convenient, and station-city integration, and realize "zero distance" for passenger transfer, "seamless" logistics connection, and "integration"
of transportation services.

Fei Zhirong pointed out that after the realization of the above road network plan, the scale of the long-term railway network will reach about 200,000 kilometers, of which about
45,000 kilometers of high-speed railways.
The national railway network fully connects cities with a population of more than 200,000, and the high-speed railway network basically connects provincial capitals and other large and medium-sized cities with a population of more than 500,000, realizing a 1-4-hour traffic circle
between adjacent large and medium-sized cities.