After “borrowing” technology from the pioneers of HSR—Japan, Germany and France—China embarked on a program that dwarfed all previous efforts. Between 2008 and 2014 the network of rail lines suitable for traffic at speeds of 250 kilometers per hour or more was expanded from 1,000 kilometers to 11,000 kilometers. Journey times from Beijing to Shanghai were cut to 4.5 hours for an 819-mile trip, compared with the 7 hours that the Acela—the pride of America’s Amtrak—takes to cover the 454 miles from Boston to Washington, DC.
