China sets sights on developing mid-speed inter-city railway network

China’s railways authorities have issued the first national standard for the mainland’s inter-city railways, which will focus on developing shorter, mid-speed train services.

The burgeoning inter-city rail services should be limited to speeds of up to 200 km/h, a newly issued national regulation says.

The regulation, which will take effect from March 1, defines inter-city rail services as those that provide fast and frequent trains between two neighbouring cities, or groups of cities, the Beijing Times reported.

The entire journey will be between 50km and 200km, the newspaper said, citing the National Railway Administration.

The distance between two stations may vary from 5km to 20km, with each train designed to have a maximum of eight carriages, the regulation states.

An official from the administration was quoted as saying that inter-city rail services would focus on high-frequency services – just as city public bus transport is required to do.