中國高鐵直達倫敦 路線貫穿17國家

搭高鐵到歐洲不再是夢想！中國目前計畫建造橫貫中亞與歐洲的高速鐵路，從北京為起點，途中會行經俄羅斯、德國、波蘭等國家，最後抵達英國倫敦，預估全程約 48小時。

據中國媒體報導，中國為了促進西部地區的經濟發展與便利中亞國家運送物資，計畫在10年內完成貫穿中亞，連接歐洲地區的高速鐵路，預估從新疆維吾 爾自治區烏魯木齊出發，經由哈薩克斯坦、烏茲別克斯坦、土庫曼斯坦、伊朗、土耳其等國家，最後到達終點德國。

而目前已經有伊朗、印度與巴基斯坦等國願意就建設中亞鐵路一事，與中國進行談判，而中國也釋出善意，表示願意為出口天然物資到中國的國家，提供技術、設備與高速列車。

報導還進一步指出，這條中亞高速鐵路最後會經由德國，與歐洲的鐵路網做連結，屆時，旅客只要花費48小時，就可以從中國北京抵達英國倫敦王十字火 車站。

此外，中國也計畫建造一條連接泰國、緬甸與馬來西亞的南亞高速鐵路，一旦完成後，從倫敦到新加坡也只需要花費72小時。

Passengers will be able to travel by train from King's Cross to Beijing in just two days on trains that travel almost as fast as aeroplanes under ambitious new plans from the Chinese.

By Malcolm Moore, in Shanghai
Published: 10:00PM GMT 08 Mar 2010

China is in negotiations to build a high-speed rail network to India and Europe with trains that capable of running at over 200mph within the next ten years Photo: MARTIN POPE

China is in negotiations to build a high-speed rail network to India and Europe with trains that capable of running at over 200mph within the next ten years.

The network would eventually carry passengers from London to Beijing and then to Singapore. It would also run to India and Pakistan, according to Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a senior consultant on China's domestic high-speed rail project.
A second project would see trains heading north through Russia to Germany and into the European railway system, and a third line will extend south to connect Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Malaysia.

Passengers could board a train in London and step off in Beijing, 5,070 miles away as the crow flies, in just two days. They could go on to Singapore, 6,750 miles away, within three days.
"We are aiming for the trains to run almost as fast as aeroplanes," said Mr Wang. "The best case scenario is that the three networks will be completed in a decade," he added.
Mr Wang said that China was already in negotiations with 17 countries over the rail lines, which will draw together and open up the whole of Central, East and South East Asia. Mr Wang said the network would also allow China to transport valuable cargoes of raw materials more efficiently.

"It was not China that pushed the idea to start with," said Mr Wang. "It was the other countries that came to us, especially India. These countries cannot fully implement the construction of a high-speed rail network and they hoped to draw on our experience and technology," he said.
China is in the middle of a £480 billion domestic railway expansion project that aims to build nearly 19,000 miles of new railways in the next five years, connecting up all of its major cities with high-speed lines.

The world's fastest train, the Harmony Express which has a top speed of nearly 250mph, was unveiled at the end of last year, between the cities of Wuhan and Guangzhou. Wholly Chinese-built, but using technology from Siemens and Kawasaki, the Harmony Express can cover 660 miles, the equivalent of a journey from London to Edinburgh and back, in just three hours.
Mr Wang said the route of the three lines had yet to be decided, but that construction for the South East Asian line had already begun in the southern province of Yunnan and that Burma was about to begin building its link. China has offered to bankroll the Burmese line in exchange for the country's rich reserves of lithium, a metal widely used in batteries.
Currently, the only rail line that links China to South East Asia is an antiquated track built by the French in Vietnam a century ago. The Asian Development Bank has recently agreed a second £27 million loan as part of the £93 reconstruction of Cambodia's network, which should finish by 2013. The cost of the lines from Cambodia to Singapore and then from Vietnam to China could be roughly £400 million.

"We have also already carried out the prospecting and survey work for the European network, and Central and Eastern European countries are keen for us to start," Mr Wang said. "The Northern network will be the third one to start, although China and Russia have already agreed on a high-speed line across Siberia, where one million Chinese already live."

One stumbling block is China's desire for the high-speed tracks to run on the same gauge as China's domestic network. Vietnam has agreed to change its standard gauge, but other countries are still in negotiations.

"From our point of view, the biggest issue is money," said Mr Wang.

"We will use government money and bank loans, but the railways may also raise financing from the private sector and also from the host countries. We would actually prefer the other countries to pay in natural resources rather than make their own capital investment."
As for passengers, Mr Wang predicted that in a decade's time, visa restrictions on travel through Asia "will be further lifted".