Cina . Ha vinto la guerra delle strade ferrate (notate le differenze!)
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2018-05-04.
Il ritornello è sempre lo stesso.
Alcune università, istituti di ricerca e società proclamano ai quattro venti che hanno in mano la ricerca del futuro e promettono cose mirabolanti, sotto la condizione che lo stato recepisca la grandiosità della loro intelligenza e del loro progetto e lo finanzi.
Così, anche in questo caso, centinaia di miliardi del pubblico contribuente finirono nelle ampie saccocce delle società connesse con la progettazione e la costruzione di treni ad alta velocità e relative strade ferrate. Un business da capogiro. Gli amici degli amici si congratulavano tra di loro magnificando il lavoro fatto. E cosa mai si sarebbe potuto fare se lo stato tanghero e taccagno avesse scucito un po' di più! Dozzine e dozzine di enti pubblici si popolarono di burocrati e funzionari, che sfornavano a getto continuo progetti su progetti, che erano subito pubblicizzati come già fatti. Qualcuno con grande spirito dello humour aveva predetto a brevissimo tempo treni supersonici. E la gente si ingurgitava tutto dal pirun.
Quindi la montagna partorì il minuscolo topolino, piccolo, sformato e racchitico.
«Germany's high-speed ICE trains about six hours to travel from Hamburg to Munich»
650 kilometri in sei ore: cento kilometri all'ora.
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«China's fast trains are the most ambitious in the world»
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«The plan is to surpass European and Japanese rivals and conquer more than only the Chinese market»
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«China's latest technical wonder .... will cut down the nearly 1,300-kilometer (808-mile) trip between Beijing and Shanghai by about an hour to 4.5 hours and will run seven times a day»
Il treno cinese Fuxin viaggia attualmente a 289 kilometri all'ora di media.
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«the Tokyo-Nagoya line is only expected to be ready for commercial travel in about 10 years time»
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«China's high-speed rail network already covers some 22,000 kilometers .... The goal is for there to be 30,000 kilometers by 2030. There are eight north-south and east-west lines. By 2030, some 80 percent of Chinese cities with populations of over a million will be connected to the network. Even Hong Kong is getting a high-speed rail link to the mainland next year»
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«One of the reasons behind the speed of China's high-speed rail development is that the country has been working with foreign firms for many years and has been able to learn plenty.»
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«In 2004, German, French and Japanese companies were allowed access to the Chinese market - in return for technology.»
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«Now, 13 years later, the exchange seems to have worked for China - less so for the others that have become China's rivals »
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Riassumiamo.
L'Europa ha investito centinaia di miliardi in un qualcosa che non sarebbe poi stata in grado di progettare e produrre allo stato dell'arte. In compenso, ha finanziato ricerca e progetti cinesi.
«In 2004, German, French and Japanese companies were allowed access to the Chinese market - in return for technology.»
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«But neither German ICEs nor French TGVs will be running on these rail lines»
Se è vero che il corpo dei progettisti europei era equamente ripartito in genere maschile e genere femminile, è altrettanto vero che il treno europeo sviluppava una velocità media un terzo di quella del treno cinese, a progettazione priva della componente femminile.
Se è vero che la produzione sarebbe stata possibile, è altrettanto vero che le fabbriche inquinano e gli addetti si sporcherebbero le mani di grasso. Per gli europei il lavoro manuale è blasé: guardate un po' se le femministe reclamano le quote rosa per gli addetti agli altoforni.
Alla fine, se si volesse un treno ad alta velocità funzionante per davvero, si dovrebbe comprare quello cinese, sempre poi che i cinesi ce lo volessero vendere.
China's fast trains are the most ambitious in the world. The plan is to surpass European and Japanese rivals and conquer more than only the Chinese market, according to Frank Sieren.
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The future belongs to trains. At least in China - and the continent of Asia as a whole - if all goes according to the Chinese government's plans. China's latest technical wonder will go into operation on September 21 - it's a high-speed train called Fuxing, which means "renewal" or "revival." It will cut down the nearly 1,300-kilometer (808-mile) trip between Beijing and Shanghai by about an hour to 4.5 hours and will run seven times a day. By contrast, it takes Germany's high-speed ICE trains about six hours to travel from Hamburg to Munich, which is about half the distance. The Chinese trains can already reach a speed of 350 kph (218 mph), which is supposed to go up to 400 kph in the future. There is only one faster long-distance train - the Japanese Maglev - which has reached 603 kph in a test, but only in a test so far. And the infrastructure for the Tokyo-Nagoya line is only expected to be ready for commercial travel in about 10 years time.
Setting the bar higher
Railroads are nothing new for China. The line from the capital to the business hub of Shanghai is the country's most important. It is used by about 600 million a people a year and made about $1 billion (840 million euros) in 2016. If the Fuxing trains prove themselves on this line, China will set new standards in terms of high-speed rail travel. If successful, the fact that they have managed to accomplish this so fast is astonishing considering it has not been easy. It has required a great deal of expense - $118 billion in 2016 alone. Half a trillion dollars have been put aside for high-speed rail travel in the current 5-year plan. That speaks for itself. There are also plenty of resourceful engineers working non-stop and motivated by promises that their developments will be immediately put to good use.
China's high-speed rail network already covers some 22,000 kilometers - that's about two-thirds of the global network. The goal is for there to be 30,000 kilometers by 2030. There are eight north-south and east-west lines. By 2030, some 80 percent of Chinese cities with populations of over a million will be connected to the network. Even Hong Kong is getting a high-speed rail link to the mainland next year.
This is all ideal advertising for Chinese trains and technology, which the government is hoping to sell all over the world. A deal has already been signed with Indonesia. It includes Fuxing trains and also the construction of a rail line between Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, and the country's fourth-largest city of Bandung. Travel time will be shortened from three hours to 40 minutes. The building of a train link between China and Thailand is already underway. Last week, a 6,630-kilometer railway for goods trains to Russia was opened. The construction of a high-speed railway line between Moscow and Kazan is currently under negotiation - if it goes ahead, trains will be able to travel at a speed of 360 kph.
Rapid development
One of the reasons behind the speed of China's high-speed rail development is that the country has been working with foreign firms for many years and has been able to learn plenty. In 2004, German, French and Japanese companies were allowed access to the Chinese market - in return for technology. Now, 13 years later, the exchange seems to have worked for China - less so for the others that have become China's rivals. It doesn't really matter what China gleaned from others now - what is more important is to find out what Beijing intends to do with its information.
As a whole, it seems that China's current projects serve its wider New Silk Road project. Whether in Russia, India or Southeast Asia, the new train lines will create a trans-Asian corridor to Europe. This is a development that Europe can look forward to in economic terms. However, it would prefer already to be benefitting from the construction. But neither German ICEs nor French TGVs will be running on these future rail lines. In the best-case scenario, companies such as Siemens will act as suppliers. Nonetheless, the rail links will boost the economy in Eurasia.
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