Among these technologies, one fell behind other countries at first, and then it was introduced to surpass and be widely used nationwide. This is the high-speed rail technology. High-speed rail technology has developed into a business card of China, which has had a far-reaching impact on people's travel in China, and as an export technology, it is slowly affecting other countries. However, unlike the huge economic benefits brought by the shield machine, the high-speed rail is losing money almost every year, and sometimes the income is not as much as the interest of the loan. According to the audit report for the first half of 2020 issued by China National Railway Group Co., Ltd., the loss in the first half of 2020 alone was 95.54 billion. Then the question is coming. The high-speed rail is losing money every year, but why is it still under construction every year?

Minimalist development history of high-speed rail

China has a vast territory and a large population base, which leads to a huge demand for high-speed rail. However, China's high-speed rail development is 20-30 years later than other developed countries. As early as 1964, the Shinkansen in Japan was opened to traffic. Not only that, France and Germany in Europe also developed high-speed rail very early.

China has been paying close attention to the development of high-speed rail. 1984 published the book "high-speed rail", which sorted out the development of high-speed rail in various countries. From 1990, the railway department began to conceive how to build high-speed rail.

1August 1999 16 The first passenger dedicated line in China-Qinhuangdao-Shenyang Passenger Dedicated Line started. In 20031October 10, the Qinhuangdao-Shenyang Passenger Dedicated Line was officially completed and opened to traffic. In 2008, after the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway was officially opened to traffic, China's high-speed railway entered a speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour. At present, the total mileage of high-speed rail has reached 37,900 kilometers, and the total mileage of lines with a speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour exceeds 1 10,000 kilometers, accounting for 2/3 of the total mileage of all high-speed rails in the world. Our country's high-speed railway network is already the largest in the world. The construction of high-speed rail is still going on. It is estimated that by 2025, the total mileage of the high-speed rail network will reach 60,000 kilometers.

So, here's the problem. High-speed rail is losing money every year, but why should it be repaired every day, and the scale is getting bigger and bigger?

Benefits of high-speed railway

The construction cost of high-speed rail is very expensive. Since the construction of high-speed rail began in 2006, the accumulated investment has exceeded one trillion by 20 10. These funds mainly come from several aspects, some from loans, some from bonds issued by the former Ministry of Railways, and the rest from local governments. But this is still far from enough, so the Ministry of Railways even began to consider introducing social funds. For example, in February of 20 10, 4.537% equity of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway was listed and transferred to the outside world at a price of 6 billion. The total construction cost of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway is 220.94 billion yuan, which is second only to the investment scale of the Three Gorges Project at that time. India tried to build a high-speed rail like China, but six years later, not a meter was built.

Even after the high-speed rail is completed, it will not be rich immediately. Almost every railway will lose money in the first year of operation. Let's take Beijing-Tianjin subway as an example. In the first year, the number of passengers reached 6.5438+0.87 million, the revenue was 6.5438+0.65438+0 billion yuan, and the loss was 70 million yuan. In the second year, the cumulative number of passengers reached 22.3 million, the revenue reached 65.438+0.4 billion, and the loss was 50 million. It is estimated that it will take 654.38+06 years. For another example, the loss of Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Passenger Dedicated Line reached 700 million in the first year. Even now, this high-speed rail is still at a loss.

Since the proposal to build a high-speed rail, people have been questioning whether it is necessary. They also question whether ordinary people can afford high-speed rail fares.

However, now, high-speed rail is not only necessary, but also not a loss-making business if considered comprehensively. The benefits it brings far exceed the cost of building it. What are the advantages of building a high-speed rail?

One word can well summarize the benefits of high-speed rail: the economic effect of high-speed rail.

There is an old saying in China: If you want to be rich, build roads first. Some researchers have found through research that the construction of high-speed rail can significantly increase the GDP of coastal cities. Every investment in high-speed rail 1 100 million yuan can drive the GDP of surrounding areas to increase10.80 billion yuan, and even many poor villages can get rid of poverty.

The reason why high-speed rail has such an effect is that it can greatly improve the railway transportation capacity, improve the long-term shortage of freight, and speed up the logistics turnover, thus greatly improving the economic productivity. Secondly, during the economic depression, the construction of high-speed rail can also provide a large number of employment opportunities, and at the same time promote the development of other related industries, such as construction, steel and cement industries, which is essentially stimulating the economy. Take the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway as an example. During the construction, a total of 1 10000 workers were employed. After the completion of the high-speed railway, various industries in this area will also be greatly developed, which can simultaneously drive metallurgy, machinery, construction, rubber, electric power, information, computers, precision instruments and other industries. Another important thing is that it can accelerate the development of urbanization and play a key role in population mobility.

To put it bluntly, railway related departments are losing money, but other related industries and cities have gained greater benefits. From a comprehensive point of view, the construction of high-speed rail is a good thing in the long run.

High-speed railway technology export

When European and American countries saw that the construction of high-speed rail in China brought so many benefits, they also began to follow China's example. But when they started planning to build high-speed rail, they found that their high-speed rail technology was far behind that of China. If they want to build high-speed rail, they must import high-speed rail technology from China. In other words, the development of high-speed rail technology can further enhance the export of high-speed rail technology in China, and China has gradually become a major exporter of high-speed rail technology in the world.