Railway workers recount the rise of Zhengzhou
By Sun Ye
02:10

Editor's note: This article is part of CGTN's special coverage China Express, which will take you on an eight-day journey on China's high-speed rail network. Our reporters on four different routes will bring you stories of people, culture and nature.


Thirty-eight-year-old bullet train driver Yang Zhen holds a world railway speed record.

On July 15, 2016, he drove one of the two high-speed trains which passed each other at a relative speed of 840 kilometers per hour (each at 421 kilometers/hour) during a test run on the Zhengzhou-Xuzhou High-Speed Railway.

Yang had driven electronic and diesel powered trains before working as a bullet train driver. He says high-speed trains put his hometown Zhengzhou onto a fast lane.

"People say Zhengzhou is a 'city of trains' and a traffic hub since the 1990s," Yang said. He recalled how it transformed into a bustling metropolis from an obscured small town.

However, even as the centrally positioned city expanded in the 90s, the changes were nothing like what he has experienced since 2012.

"I always felt 2012 was the year when everything really took a leap," Yang said, adding "Zhengzhou East Station opened that year. And the age of high-speed railways ushered in."

Zhengzhou is the capital of central China's Henan Province, as well as one of the most popular ancient cities in China. It serves as an important railway transportation hub in the center of China, an intersection point for major high-speed train routes. Now, anyone departing from Zhengzhou could reach any major Chinese city within eight hours.

China started building high-speed railways in 2007. By August 2020, China owned the world's longest bullet train network, measuring roughly 36,000 kilometers. According to China State Railway Group, the country plans to expand its high-speed-rail network to about 70,000 kilometers by 2035.

For Zhengzhou East Station, one of the largest in China, there are 32 station tracks in total. Hundreds of trains crisscross in seven different directions from the city every day.

Always on the move, Yang said he felt the distances between Zhengzhou and other cities have shrunken significantly since 2012, while trade and commerce have picked up steam. Business interactions demanded better connectivity.

"In 2016, we launched one new railway line," he said. "In 2019, we opened three new lines from Zhengzhou. And this year, we're looking to inaugurate a new route between Zhengzhou and Taiyuan."

This year, when the Chinese economy was affected by the pandemic, Zhengzhou was among the first cities to bounce back.

In the first half of 2020, Zhengzhou reported a total trade volume of 160 billion yuan ($23.6 billion), up by more than 13 percent, registering the fastest growth in central China.

Yang Shuying, another local from Zhengzhou, believes Zhengzhou owes its economic rise to the country's railway development.

"Let me give you a small example, earlier, there was a street market nearby where vendors sold clothes, Yang, a retired Zhengzhou Railway Bureau employee told CGTN, adding that the huge footfall of travelers in the city turned it into a full-fledged wholesale clothing industry."

Zhengzhou's economic worth in the first half of 2020 was recorded at 545 billion yuan. Local officials say its central position, connectivity and local endeavors will continue to speed up recovery and growth.