Opinion

Pitfalls of high-speed rail

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-03 08:02

Comment on "High-speed rail links to be doubled by 2012" (July 29, China Daily)

The expansion of the high-speed railway network from 7,000 km to 13,000 km by 2012 and at least 25,000 km by 2020 will usher in tremendous social changes. But expanding the "bullet train network" will create a lot of wastes.

The Shijiazhuang-Beijing high-speed line is scheduled for completion in 2012, reducing the travel time between the two cities to 50 minutes. Between the cities, and 150 km from Beijing, there will come up a high-speed railway station. This rural area will be connected to Beijing by a short 25-minute train ride.

Around this kind of rural train station, a big real estate developer (or developers) is likely to build a complex of hundreds of "monster homes", which will average about 500 sq m each. The logic for these homes will be all too compelling. A typical commute for a 500-sq-m home-owner may look something like this: Drive 3 km to the station (10 minutes), take the train to Beijing South (25 minutes), and finally take the subway to the Financial Street (20 minutes).

This 55-minute commute will not be much different from the commute of a 130-sq-m apartment owner who takes 35 minutes to walk from East 2nd Ring Road to the Financial Street. If the prices of an apartment and a "monster home" are similar, then urban families will rush to buy the "monster homes".

These oversized communities will drain resources and energy. The "monster-home" communities will then start spreading, compelling residents to use their cars to even attend to everyday tasks such as reaching children to school and going to a supermarket.

Neither China nor our planet can support such ravenous consumption of resources and energy. Action must be taken now, before the opening of many high-speed rail lines to prevent such profligate lifestyle from taking root and to preserve the urban model of China, dominated by compact modern transport network.

The well being of the planet may depend on a swift action from China.

Kai Xue, via e-mail

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(China Daily 08/03/2010 page9)