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2017.10.17

“Asian Review 006” Shanghai part6 Situation of long distance transit in China

Asian Review 006” Shanghai part6

Situation of long distance transit in China The land area of ​​China is 25 times bigger than Japan, and the population is 10 times larger. Urban population and rural population are clearly distinguished, and each province and city had been competing on its population which caused the growth. Depending on the statistics, 15 cities have more than ten million people, and 150 cities have more than one million people.

Economic growth had made an impacted to the travele of people. Airplanes and bullet trains are fully booked everyday. Moreover, the habit of returning to their hometown during the Lunatic new year period is persistent. During these high seasons the transportation facilities are constructed to become big railway stations in which most Japanese will say “Is this an airport?”

There are two airports in Shanghai, Hongqiao and Pudong. When the terminal 2 of Hongqiao was constructed, the Hongqiao comprehensive transportation terminal had also been completed as the final destination of the bullet train. The total floor area of this terminal building including the commercial facilities is one million square meters.

 The bullet train network in China started its construction in 2009 and it will have the total length of 38,000km as of 2025 (Long as the equator). The bullet train is becoming convenient since the ratio of departures and arrivals have been improving. Since the airplane’s flight routes are always congested causing delays, more and more people are choosing the bullet train for trips within 1000 km. Long distance buses are also popular because every city has a bus terminal, and the services are frequent and easier to get tickets without prior booking.

The structure of the railway station in China is totally different from Japan. Passengers cannot enter the platform ten minutes before the arrival of the train. They have to wait in the waiting room on the second-floor level until the trains arrival. When the train arrives, the passengers arriving goes down to the first basement floor towards the exit, and the departing passengers waiting on the second floor will enter the platform. It is a one-way system, and it would have been an indispensable mechanism to manage the large number of people without a mess.

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