China Becomes Unstoppable as High-Speed Rail Network Surpasses 50,000 km
China is once again expanding its high-speed railway (HSR) network. Four new lines, with a total length of 1,142 kilometres (km), commenced operations on 28 September 2026, just ahead of the surge in travel during China’s National Day holidays.
These four lines are spread across the northern, north-eastern, north-western, and central regions of China. The new routes are designed to operate at maximum speeds ranging from 250 km/h to 350 km/h, according to a CCTV report cited by VnExpress on Tuesday (29/09/2026).
This expansion further strengthens China’s position as the country with the largest high-speed rail network in the world.
552 km Connecting Xiongan-Shangqiu
The longest newly opened segment is a 552 km stretch connecting the Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province with Shangqiu in Henan Province. This route reduces the fastest travel time between the two regions to just 2 hours and 27 minutes.
In the initial phase, up to 64 train trips per day will operate. The new service also connects Beijing West Railway Station with Hefei and Huangshan North.
A total of 11 counties and county-level cities along the route are gaining high-speed rail access for the first time. This segment is part of the Beijing-Hong Kong high-speed railway, one of the primary lines spanning from northern to southern China.
Xiongan itself is an area developed by the Chinese government since 20lar 2017 to help alleviate urban density pressures in Beijing. Its population reached approximately 1.4 million people by December 2025.
Independent Chinese railway expert David Feng told the South China Morning Post that the opening of this line connects Xiongan—which previously had a major station with limited passenger numbers—to the national rail network.
Northern Region Lines
In the north-east, China has opened the 318 km Harbin-Yichun line in Heilongjiang Province. This line represents the northernmost high-speed rail network ever built in China. Travel time between Harbin and Yichun has been slashed from approximately seven hours to less than two hours.
The line, designed for a maximum speed of 250 km/h, will initially serve up to 38 daily train trips. Meanwhile, in the north-west, China has opened a 171 km segment from Xi’an to Ankang in Shaanxi Province.
The route passes through the Qinling Mountains and reduces the fastest travel time between the two cities to just 45 minutes. The Xi’an-Ankang segment is the first stage of a planned route that will eventually connect the region with Chongqing, one of China’s major metropolitan cities.
In central China, the 101 km Yichang-Xingshan line in Hubei Province has also begun operations. This line connects two major national routes and reduces the fastest travel time from Wuhan to Chongqing from 4 hours 56 minutes to 3 hours 54 minutes.
Surpassing 50,400 km
With the addition of these 1,142 km, China’s high-speed rail network continues to grow. Data from the China State Railway Group reported by Xinhua shows that the network reached approximately 50,400 km by the end of 2025.
According to the Paris-based International Union of Railways, China controls more than two-thirds of the world’s total high-speed rail tracks. China entered the high-speed rail era in 2008 with the opening of the Beijing-Tianjin line.
The latest expansion comes as China prepares for a surge in public mobility during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays. The China State Railway Group estimates there will be 284 million passenger trips by rail during the 16-day period from 23 September to 8 October 2026.
This period encompasses both the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day holiday, which begins on 1 October. Chinese railway officials told the China Business Journal that these figures have the potential to become the largest volume of rail travel in history during a holiday period.
Nevertheless, the average daily trips are expected to remain around 17.75 million. The total surge is primarily due to this year’s travel period lasting four days longer than the previous year.