In China, economic stimulus means high-speed rail spending—and lots of it.
"China Railway Group yesterday published plans to increase the country’s high-speed rail network from 36,000km to 70,000km over the next 15 years, and its total length of track from 141,400km to 200,000km," according to an article published by Global Construction Review.
"Beijing sees the investment as a way to stimulate demand in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the continuing trade war with the US," according to the article. "It also wants to create a more integrated national market and distribute the benefits of economic growth more evenly across the country."
Once the planned rail expansions are built out, every Chinese city with a population greater than 200,000 will be on a rail line, according to the article, "and those with more than 500,000 people will have access to a service travelling at over 250km/h."
More details on the economic situation to be addressed by the high-speed rail plans are included in source article, along with the country's history of investment in high-speed rail.
FULL STORY: China plans to double high-speed rail network by 2035
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