A new high-speed rail line that connects Shanghai with Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the Yangtze River Delta has entered its trial operation phase, China's state news agency reported.
The new line will operate at speeds of around 217 mph, with a total of eight stations — six of them newly built — spanning 101 total miles.
Such a train line would certainly be welcome basically anywhere in the United States — imagine, for example, being able to zip from New York City to Philadelphia in under half an hour.
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In China, however, these types of transportation options are commonplace. The country has 28,000 miles and counting of high-speed rail infrastructure, all built relatively recently. This robust network is the result of a massive financial investment on the part of the Chinese government, which is spending over $100 billion per year to give its citizens and visitors the ability to travel to and from various cities cheaply, quickly, efficiently, and with minimal environmental impact.
China has, over the last two decades, connected 75% of its major cities by high-speed rail, according to CNN. And it is far from done, expecting to add an additional 44,000 miles of lines by 2035, more than doubling the size of the network.
Anecdotally (which is to say, going by videos that various content creators have posted on social media), people simply love traveling by high-speed rail. Unlike driving, which requires some degree of skill, attention, and effort, the (much faster) trains allow people to travel in complete relaxation. And, unlike airplanes, which require you to go through airports and then sit squeezed into a tiny seat with no space to move, the trains are incredibly easy to board and comfortable once you're in your seat.
Trains have also been shown to be the most environmentally friendly form of long-distance travel, creating less air pollution per passenger than cars or planes.
Fortunately, though the U.S. is still very far from having the type of high-speed rail network that China has, a few high-speed rail projects have started to pop up — most notably, the California line that was delayed for decades is under construction.
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