In under a decade, China has built a high-speed rail network totalling more than 10,000km. It eclipses every other country’s high-speed network and even that of the entire European unx. Not only that, to build it China spent two-thirds or less what other countries have spent.

在不到10年的时间里,中国已经建成了总长超过10000公里的高速铁路网。其他国家的高速网络相比相形见绌,甚至整个欧盟的高速网络都相形见绌。不仅如此,为了建造这些,中国花费的代价仅为其他国家花费的三分之二甚至更少。
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According to a World Bank paper published last week, China’s high-speed rail so far has cost between $17m and $21m per kilometre, even though it has a high ratio of big-ticket viaducts and tunnels. In Europe that figure is $25m-$39m per kilometre, while in California, the only US state currently planning a high-speed line, it’s more like $56m/km.

世界银行(World Bank)上周发表的一篇论文称,中国高铁每公里造价在1700万至2100万美元之间。在欧洲,每公里造价为2500万至3900万美元,而在美国目前唯一一个规划高速线路的州——加州,其每公里造价为5600万美元。

Some of the reasons are not surprising. For instance, in a country where according to the World Bank 978 million people lived on less than $5 a day in 2008, labour has been cheap.

其中一些原因并不奇怪。例如,根据世界银行(worldbank)的数据显示,在这样一个国家:2008年仍然有9.78亿人每天生活费不足5美元,其劳动力一直很便宜。

And in an authoritarian state like China, the cost of moving people out of the way is low. The paper’s authors note that site work and right-of-way costs in litigious California are around $10m/km, or 17.6% of the total cost, while in China land acquisition and resettlement costs are below 8% of project cost.

而在中国这样的**国家,转移民众的成本很低。论文作者指出,在加州,工地工作及通行权(拆迁)成本约为1000万美元/公里,占总成本的17.6%,而在中国,土地征用和移民安置成本低于项目成本的8%。

But other reasons may be more interesting both to the developed world and to regions like Africa that are sorely in need of transformative infrastructure.

但对于发达国家和非洲等迫切需要变革性基础设施的地区来说,其他原因可能更令人感兴趣。

For one thing, the sheer scale of China’s rail programme and the state’s firm commitment to it unleashed the country’s technical and manufacturing capabilities. The declaration of a credible plan to build 10,000 km of high-speed rail over six to seven years energised the construction and equipment supply community, the paper says. Assured of very high volumes, companies and state institutions ramped up capacity quickly and invested in innovative techniques.

一方面,中国铁路项目的巨大规模和国家对此项目的坚定承诺“释放”了中国的技术和制造能力。该报说,宣布一项可信的计划,在6至7年内修建1万公里的高铁,为建筑和设备供应界注入了活力。由于产量非常高,公司和国家机构迅速提高了产能,并投资于创新技术。

“This,” writes Gerald Ollivier, a World Bank senior transport specialist and paper co-author, “has led to lower unit costs as a result of the development of competitive multiple local sources for construction (earthworks, bridges, tunnels, EMU trains etc.) that adopted mechanization in construction and manufacturing.

世界银行高级运输专家、论文合著者杰拉尔德·奥利维尔(Gerald Ollivier)写道:“这导致了单位成本的降低,这是由于在建筑和制造业采用机械化的多种具有竞争力的当地建筑资源(土方工程、桥梁、隧道、动车组列车等)的发展。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


“Further, large volumes and the ability to amortize capital investment in high-cost construction equipment over a number of projects contributed to the lowering of unit costs.”

“此外,数量庞大以及能够将高成本建筑设备的资本投资分摊到若干项目中,有助于降低单位成本。”

The Chinese government also has the clout to standardise designs – for embankments, track, viaducts, electrification, signalling and communication systems – which cuts cost and duplication of effort.

中国也有能力将路堤、轨道、高架桥、电气化、信号和通信系统的设计标准化,从而降低成本和重复劳动。

It also standardised construction techniques. Here, the paper’s authors admired the Chinese approach to viaducts. China built a lot of these to save scarce farmland or to leap over rivers and, even though they are expensive to build, the cost was kept down by standardising the design and manufacture of viaduct bridge beams.

它还使施工技术标准化。在这里,该报的作者对中国人修建高架桥的做法表示赞赏。中国建造了很多这样的桥梁是为了节省稀缺的农田或跨越河流,尽管建造成本很高,但通过标准化高架桥梁的设计和制造来降低成本。

Their span is standardised at either 24m or 32m and they are cast in temporary factories set up along the railway alignment. Each beam is transported no more than 8km by a specially-designed vehicle with up to 18 axles.

其跨度标准化为24m或32m,并在铁路沿线设立的临时工厂中浇筑。每根梁的运输距离不超过8公里,由一辆专门设计的车辆(最多18根车轴)完成。

It was China’s handling of tunnels, however, that most impressed Ollivier et al. They noted that the Chinese system for tunnel construction resulted in a unit cost of $10m to $15m per kilometre, a fraction of what it costs New Zealand ($43m), the US ($50m), and Australia ($60m). The system allowed China to tunnel fast, as well, at a rate of five to 10 metres per day.

然而,给奥利维尔等人留下最深刻印象的是中国对隧道的处理方式。他们指出,中国的隧道建设系统导致了每公里1000万至1500万美元的单位成本,仅为新西兰(4300万美元)、美国(5000万美元)和澳大利亚(6000万美元)成本的一小部分。这一系统也使中国能够以每天5至10米的速度快速挖掘隧道

It’s little wonder, given its remarkable high-speed rail feat, that China is exporting its rail construction expertise all over the world, especially to Africa, and is even keen to help build the UK’s first significant high-speed rail network, dubbed HS2.

毫无疑问,鉴于其卓越的高铁成就,中国正在向全世界,特别是非洲输出其铁路建设专业知识,甚至热衷于帮助英国建设第一个重要的高铁网络,即为高铁2号。

But could the benefits of the Chinese approach be realised in big, decentralised regions, like the Gulf, Africa as a whole, or the United States? It seems unlikely.

但是,中国方法的好处能否在大而分散的地区实现,比如海湾地区、整个非洲或美国?这似乎不太可能。