How do the economy and tourism benefit from high-speed rail?

VOV.VN - One of the biggest benefits of high-speed rail is that it brings economic and tourism development opportunities to areas along the route. So how do these areas benefit from high-speed rail, according to the experience and perspective of the billion-people country of China?

In early September, the high-speed railway connecting Hangzhou and Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, eastern China, officially opened. The new route is 276 km long, using trains designed to run at 350 km/h and has 9 stations. The main purpose of the route is to provide a fast travel and transportation solution along the route through many economic centers such as Hangzhou, Yiwu, Wuzhou... one of the most dynamic economic regions of the billion-people country. Mr. Wang Lu, senior engineer of the Hangzhou Railway Project Center, shared: "When the railway officially comes into operation, it will connect and create a circle of 3 major cities: Hangzhou, Jinhua and Wuzhou. The route is also designed to pass through some scenic areas such as the Zhejiang River and the province's Shenxian Ju scenic area, thereby promoting local economic development along the route."

During China's National Day holiday in late September and early October, the country's national railways served more than 105 million train trips, with passenger traffic relatively concentrated on a number of routes such as Beijing to Shanghai, Chengdu to Xi'an, Guangzhou to Nanning, Dalian to Shenyang, etc.

A passenger takes a selfie at the opening ceremony of the Chengguan-Linzhi Expressway in the Tibet Autonomous Region in 2021. Photo: Xinhua

Or the Baoji – Lanzhou line connecting the two provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, more than 400 km long, plays an important role in the east-west railway, creating a “transportation circle” connecting Lanzhou with many major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. With a total travel time of about 9 – 11 hours, tourists can experience the specialty of Soup Dumplings, also known as Xiao Long Bao in Shanghai in the morning, eat lamb soup with shredded bread in Xi’an at noon, and end the day with Lanzhou’s specialty beef noodles for dinner. Besides the tourism benefits are the economic benefits. By integrating into diverse economic regions and improving transport connections, high-speed rail supports the government’s solutions in reducing economic disparities between regions, promoting comprehensive economic development. The cities and key economic zones that have sprung up along the routes show that China's high-speed railways have successfully fulfilled their role as the "backbone" of transportation, an indispensable part of the urbanization strategy of the country of a billion people. Dr. Danlin Yu, an urban geographer and data scientist at Montclair State University, USA, shared: "Most economists agree that there are two main impacts of high-speed railways on the economy. The first is the direct impact, including reducing travel time, reducing travel costs, helping the labor market to be flexible, promoting the development of science and technology, thereby developing the regional economy. The second impact is the economic impact, but on a larger scale, including attracting investment, saving costs for businesses, workers and the State thanks to the agglomeration effect." Currently, China is focusing on investing in the western region - where the terrain is rugged and remote - to develop the economy of this region. Mr. Ma Wanlin, an engineer from China Railway Corporation, and many colleagues are in charge of the construction of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Autonomous Region Expressway. This line starts from Lanzhou, Gansu Province, passes through Xining, Qinghai Province and ends in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, with a total length of nearly 1,800 km. The 50-year-old engineer said that over the past decade, he has witnessed the change of railways, promoting economic development in many rural areas. For example, the Lanzhou-Xinjiang line, which has been in operation since the end of 2014, has so far transported about 140 million passengers and helped the economy of many localities flourish. For example, the Huimenyuan Autonomous County, Qinghai Province, is famous for its snowy mountains and rapeseed flowers. Thanks to the high-speed railway, the county's economy and tourism have skyrocketed. Last year, the county's GDP reached 4.5 billion yuan, five times higher than in 2013.

China's high-speed railway serves as the "backbone" of transportation - Illustration photo: Reuters

In Vietnam, with the advantage of large-volume, fast, reliable and convenient transport, the high-speed railway on the North-South axis will "shorten" the distance between localities and regions, contributing to reducing the pressure of population concentration and infrastructure overload in large cities that are causing many consequences, especially in the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; restructuring and redistributing urban areas and population, opening up economic development space for localities along the corridor. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Dong, former Deputy Minister of Transport, current laws still have many problems, such as urban development around train stations and service business at stations. Therefore, there needs to be special mechanisms, policies, and even high-level resolutions of the National Assembly to resolve these legal issues: “Transportation business, like Vietnam, is being constrained by not being allowed to do business in other services, especially at stations. An example is the Cat Linh - Ha Dong route, where businesses operating that route still cannot do business or sell goods there. Because of the law, we are being constrained and are not allowed to do other business. We have to determine that like Japan, 30-35% of revenue comes from service business, not just from railway transport,” Mr. Dong said.

VOV.vn

Source: https://vov.vn/ky-nguyen-vuon-minh/kinh-te-va-du-lich-huong-loi-gi-tu-duong-sat-cao-toc-post1132526.vov