How China’s HSR System Became A Success

During the Great Recession, China chose to stimulate its economy through massive infrastructure projects – including building out a national high speed rail system. But after a few years, criticism began to mount amidst growing problems.

The Wenzhou disaster in 2011 showed China had serious problems in terms of managing the rapid growth of the system. That same year, American news outlets like the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal described the system as overburdened with debt, lacking riders, and facing financial ruin.

Many people stopped paying attention at that point. China’s HSR project was seen as unsafe and unsuccessful, what more was there to know? But as it turns out, the story did not end in 2011. Four years later, Chinese high speed rail is a stunning success and a model for the rest of the globe which will have to catch up or be left behind.