High-speed rail worldwide
Since the first steam-powered passenger railway service started operations in 1825, locomotives have undergone massive technological changes. But it was in the 20th century when trains started getting faster. The first high-speed (HS) train service (Shinkansen) was introduced in Japan in 1964, beginning a revolution in the rail industry. Since then, HS rail has spread worldwide, transporting more passengers every year. In 2019, the HS passenger traffic hit the milestone of one trillion passenger kilometers after years of constant growth. A year later, the upward trend suffered a setback with a fall of almost 40 percent caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though the pandemic hit the traffic figures drastically, it did not stop the new HS rail infrastructure wave. The length of the HS rail network worldwide has been growing non-stop for decades, reaching around 59,500 kilometers in 2021, with figures climbing extremely since its introduction to Chinese territory. HS rail tracks in China have skyrocketed recently, going from 1,000 kilometers in 2008 to approximately 40,000 in 2021. This impressive engineering landmark helped China position itself with the world's most extensive HS rail network. As of 2021, China was undoubtedly the leader of the HS race, followed far and away by Spain and Japan, with more than 3,000 kilometers of tracks in operation each.
Another big player in the HS market is Europe, where rail companies also reported significant losses in 2020. The European leader, Spain, experienced a decrease in passenger traffic on its AVE service of more than two-thirds, contributing to a substantial drop in total revenue of the rail company in charge (Renfe). In France, the story was no different, with the SNCF reporting revenues 14.6 percent lower than the previous year.
The third region in the world with the most ambitious HS plans is North America, mainly driven by the U.S., working on implementing HS to connect one of the biggest countries in the world. In 2021, the U.S. Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides around 66 billion U.S. dollars to boost the rail network to offer a faster, safer, sustainable, and more reliable service. In December 2023, this commitment was followed up by awarding 8.2 billion U.S. dollars to the development of ten high-speed rail projects.
No passengers, no money
HS rail services are mainly used for passenger transportation; therefore, an essential travel reduction will directly affect them. The movement restrictions imposed in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic substantially affected the HS industry across the globe. For instance, in Japan, HS passenger traffic dropped by more than half in 2020, recovering slightly in 2021, reaching a ridership of almost 200 million passengers.Another big player in the HS market is Europe, where rail companies also reported significant losses in 2020. The European leader, Spain, experienced a decrease in passenger traffic on its AVE service of more than two-thirds, contributing to a substantial drop in total revenue of the rail company in charge (Renfe). In France, the story was no different, with the SNCF reporting revenues 14.6 percent lower than the previous year.
The future looks faster
Even if the pandemic hit the industry hard, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, with passenger traffic recovering and big plans to use and expand HS infrastructure more than ever. In terms of planned expansions of the HS rail lines, the Asia-Pacific region is again the front runner, intending to build more than 25,000 kilometers in the coming years, followed by Europe with nearly 9,400 kilometers of rail planned. The latter got a massive project off the ground to connect, modernize, and expand the HS network on the continent. This project, also called the TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network), has been going since the 90s, but it was only in 2021 that the main nine corridors planned extended significantly. The nine corridors linking the most critical nodes in the continent are to be completed by 2030.The third region in the world with the most ambitious HS plans is North America, mainly driven by the U.S., working on implementing HS to connect one of the biggest countries in the world. In 2021, the U.S. Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides around 66 billion U.S. dollars to boost the rail network to offer a faster, safer, sustainable, and more reliable service. In December 2023, this commitment was followed up by awarding 8.2 billion U.S. dollars to the development of ten high-speed rail projects.
