China Railway

China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the People's Republic of China.

China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout China with 18 regional subsidiaries. By September 2022, the total assets of China Railway Group are CNY 9.06 trillion (USD 1.24 trillion). China has the highest railway usage in the world.

History

China Railway Corporation was established in 2013 to be responsible for railroad construction, operation, and maintenance.

Under the Chinese Corporate Law, China Railway Corporation was reorganized into China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. on 18 June 2019. This meant the Ministry of Finance would act as an investor on behalf of the state and the company would be led by a board and managed by board-chosen executives.

By the end of 2019, China Railway employed 2 million people and operated 139,900 km of railroads, of which 35,388 are high-speed railroads.

Passenger services

China Railway operates two main types of passenger rail services. Tickets for both types of trains are sold offline at ticket offices, and online at China Railway's official online booking website, 12306.cn, and its associated mobile app, ''Railway 12306'' (with both a Chinese interface and an English interface for use by foreigners). As of May 2025, 12306.cn (and its app) is the only official online platform authorized to sell China Railway tickets.

China Railway High-speed (CRH)

China Railway High-speed (CRH) is a high-speed rail service operated by China Railway.

The introduction of CRH series was a major part of the sixth national railway speedup, implemented on April 18, 2007. By the end of 2020, China Railway High-speed provided service to all provinces in China, and operated just under passenger tracks in length, accounting for about two-thirds of the world's high-speed rail tracks in commercial service. China has revealed plans to extend the HSR to 70,000 km by year 2035. It is the world's most extensively used railway service, with 2.29 billion bullet train trips delivered in 2019 and 2.16 billion trips in 2020, bringing the total cumulative number of trips to 13 billion as of 2020.

Over 1000 sets of rolling stock are operated under the CRH brand including Hexie CRH1/ 2A/ 5 that are designed to have a maximum speed of , and CRH2C/ 3 have a maximum speed of . The indigenous designed CRH380A have a maximum test speed of with commercial operation speed of 350 km/h. The fastest train set, CRH380BL, attained a maximum test speed of . In 2017, the China Standardized EMU brand including CR400AF/BF and CR200J joined China Railway High-speed and are designated as Fuxing together with letters CR (China Railway). With a gradual plan, the CR brand is going to replace the current CRH brand in service. China’s CRH380A Hexie developed by CSR Corporation Limited. it is designed to operate comfortably at a speed of 350 km/h (217 mph) and a maximum speed of 380 km/h (236 mph),it is also the fastest train in the world. During testing it also reached 486.1 km/h (302.0 mph).

Depending on their speed, there are 3 categories of high speed trains, G, D and C (G and some C being the fastest at 350 km/h, D having a speed of 250 km/h and C having a speed of 200 km/h).

China Railway Classic Rail

The China Railway Classic Rail network (), also known as conventional rail, forms the backbone of China Railway's railway system alongside the high-speed rail (HSR) network. These traditional railway lines operate at speeds below 160 km/h (99 mph) and serve a dual role in transporting both passengers and freight. Unlike the high-speed CRH (China Railway High-speed) services, which primarily use dedicated electrified tracks, Classic Rail consists of older lines that may be single or double-tracked, with varying degrees of electrification.

Historically, all Classic Rail trains were olive-green, leading to the nickname " green train" () to be used by laypeople. Since 2014, most Classic Rail trains that had other colours (white, red, blue) have been repainted olive-green. Classic Rail trains are also sometimes referred to as "slow trains" in English.

Classic Rail trains have significantly lower ticket prices compared to CRH trains and are a popular choice with travellers on a budget.

Logo

The China Railway logo was designed by Chen Yuchang ( zh, 陈玉昶) (1912–1969), officially adopted on 22 January 1950. The whole logo represents the front of a locomotive. The upper part of the logo represents the Chinese character 人 (people), while the lower part represents the transversal surface of a rail. The logo means that China's railway belongs to the people. The lower part represents the character 工 (labour), means that China's railway belongs to the working class.

The "CR" logo is used on the Fuxing (train) along with the China Railway logo.

The "CRH" logo is used on the Hexie (train).

Companies

There are 21 primary subsidiary companies under China Railway. As of 2008, approximately two million people work in China Railway.

Second tier subsidiaries

Corporate affairs

Business trends

The key trends for the China Railway are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):

International operations

International trains

China Railway operates passenger trains from China to Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos. Also operates freight (cargo) trains to these countries.

File:Beijing to Pyongyang train.jpg, The Beijing–Pyongyang passenger train with the emblem of China
File:Beijing UlaanBaatar Moscow Train.jpg, The Beijing– UlaanBaatar–Moscow passenger train
File:2021-12-03 China-Laos-Eisenbahn.jpg, The Kunming South–Vientiane passenger train

There are 11 international passenger train services:
* 95/8, Dandong–Pyongyang
* 401/2, Suifenhe–Grodekovo
* K3/4, Beijing– Ulaanbaatar–Moscow
* K19/20, Beijing–( Manzhouli)–Moscow
* K23/4, Beijing–Ulaanbaatar
* K27/8, Beijing–Pyongyang
* K4651/2/3/4, Hohhot–Ulaanbaatar
* K9795/6, Ürümqi–Almaty
* K9797/8, Ürümqi–Astana
* Z5/6–T8701/2, Beijing West–Nanning (transfer station)– Gia Lâm (Hanoi)
* D85/86, Kunming South—Vientiane
* D87/88, Xishuangbanna—Luang Prabang

Services to Europe (New Silk Route)

China Railway ran goods services to 15 European cities, including routes to Madrid and Hamburg and the experimental East Wind service to London to test demand. The Chinese government refers to the two-week route, starting at Yiwu and with trains to London traversing Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, as the Belt and Road Initiative. Containers must be transferred several times, as different, incompatible, rail gauges are used in different regions, and the same rolling stock cannot be used throughout.

Africa

China has been investing in and helping to rebuild railways in Africa. Below is an incomplete list of rail projects.

List of directors general

China Railway Corporation

* Sheng Guangzu (2013–2016)
* Lu Dongfu (2016–2018)

China State Railway Group

Chairman

* Lu Dongfu (2018–2022)
* Liu Zhenfang (2022–present)

General Manager

* Yang Yudong (2018–2022)
* Guo Zhuxue (2022–present)

Footnotes

See also

* Rail transport in China
* List of locomotives in China
* China Railway High-speed
* MTR
* Passenger rail transport in China
* High-speed rail in China

References

External links

*
The official ticketing website for China Railway－12306.cn

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Railway companies of China
Companies based in Beijing
Chinese companies established in 2013
Railway companies established in 2013
Chinese brands

Government-owned companies of China
Government-owned railway companies