From 1990 to 2001, on average some 1,092 km of new railways, 837
km of multiple-track, and 962 km of electrified railways were
opened to traffic annually, 2.4-fold, 1.7-fold and 1.8-fold
increases respectively over the previous 10 years. At the end of
2004, railways in operation reached 74,200 km, including 24,100 km
of multiple track and 18,900 km of electrified railways. On a
global basis, China's rail transport volume is one of the world's
largest, having six percent of the world's operating railways, and
carrying 25 percent of the world's total railway workload. China
also leads in terms of the growth rate of transport volume and in
the efficient use of transport
equipment.?????
Since 1988, train speed has been raised significantly five times,
across some 17,000 km of track. The top speed of express trains
increased from 120 km to 160 km per hour, and passenger trains can
reach maximum speed of 200 km per hour on some sections of the
arterial railways.
