India’s railway ambitions took a major leap with the launch of Rajdhani Express in 1969, putting the country ahead of much of Asia in train speed, second only to Japan.
But five decades later, as the Vande Bharat debuted in 2019 with a top speed of 160 kmph, the momentum seemed to have stalled.
“Even Vande Bharat feels far inferior to the Chinese trains which are twice as fast,” wrote Rajesh Sawhney, founder of GSF Accelerator, in a recent post on X. His comment points to a growing sentiment that India’s rail tech has seen too little progress, too late.
“1969: India launched Rajdhani Express. At that time only Japan (in Asia) was ahead of India in trains crossing 100 km/hour speed,” Sawhney wrote. “2019: India launched its first Vande Bharat with maximum speed of 160 kms/hour.”
Reflecting on the gap between the two milestones, he added, “We lost 50 years without any significant tech upgrade in our train system.”
Sawhney’s comparison came in response to a post highlighting China’s rapid high-speed rail expansion: “It’s crazy to believe China built 48,000 kms of High Speed Railway network in just 17 years?”
His assessment: “Even Vande Bharat feels far inferior to the Chinese trains which are twice as fast.”
He also made a case for why speed matters: “Same train can do twice as many rounds between two points (say Beijing & Shanghai) thus carrying twice as many people in a day and using half the capex required to build the trains.”
As of December 31, 2024, China’s high-speed rail network stood at approximately 48,000 kilometers, accounting for nearly 30 percent of its total railway system. The expansion began in earnest in the mid-2000s, starting with the Qinhuangdao-Shenyang line in 2003, followed by the Beijing-Tianjin intercity rail in 2008.
Since 2012, China has added over 3,000 km of high-speed lines each year. By 2025, the network is projected to cross 50,000 km, with a 2030 goal of 60,000 km. Today, it covers more than 96 percent of cities with populations above 500,000 and makes up two-thirds of global high-speed rail capacity.
A large part of this growth has been state-funded. In 2009 alone, China spent $50 billion on HSR development, with total construction costs around $300 billion.
