Statistics
统计
The figures China publishes about its own railway, and the figures the UIC publishes about everyone's. They are not measured the same way, so they are not added together anywhere on this sheet.
Route kilometres in operation
Each bar runs from zero to the network's current length. The upright tick behind it is where that network stood at the end of 2020; the vermilion tick ahead of it is the stated target.
50,400 km
165,000 km
2,862 kmof high-speed line opened during 2025 alone — more than the entire operational network of any country except China itself.
Schedule of published figures
As China State Railway Group and the National Railway Administration report them. Each row carries the date it describes, not the date it was read.
network
- High-speed network in operation高速铁路营业里程
- 50,400 km2025-12-31[1][2]
- Total railway network in operation全国铁路营业里程
- ≈165,000 km2025-12-31[2]
- High-speed line opened during the year投产新线中的高速铁路
- 2,862 km2025[2]
- Network electrified电化率
- 76.8%2025-12-31[2]
- Network double-tracked复线率
- 61.4%2025-12-31[2]
The National Railway Administration's statistical bulletin gives the same figure rounded to 5.0万公里 (50,000 km).
Stated as 16.5万公里, so the figure is good to three significant figures and no further.
Against the rest of the world
UIC High-Speed Atlas 2025, as of 2024-12-31. One definition applied to all 43 reporting countries — lines engineered for 200 km/h and above, in operation — which is why China's figure here is lower than its own end-of-year total above.
- 01China47,80370.6%
- 02Spain3,9935.9%
- 03Japan3,2724.8%
- 04France2,7604.1%
- 05Germany1,9412.9%
70.6%of every high-speed kilometre in operation on earth is in China. The other 42 reporting countries share what is left.
Sources
- [1]High-speed rail's rapid rise rolls on — China Daily read 2026-08-10
- [2]2025年铁道统计公报 — 国家铁路局 (National Railway Administration) read 2026-08-10
- [3]Extract from the UIC High-Speed Atlas — High-Speed Lines — International Union of Railways (UIC)
