This is unquestionably good for the economy. Surveys show that more than half of passengers on the busiest lines are “generated traffic”-that is, people making trips that they would not have made before. There are now about 75m people living within an hour of the city by high-speed rail. And Kunshan is just one of many options for those seeking to escape Shanghai’s high costs.

But the bullet train between the two cities takes just 19 minutes and costs a mere 25 yuan ($3.60). In Kunshan, for example, homes cost about 70% less than in nearby Shanghai. Little wonder: house prices in satellite towns and cities tend to be much cheaper. Now, each of these three mega-cities is developing commuter corridors. Trains were previously too infrequent, too slow and too crowded to allow for daily commutes. In China’s three big population centres-the areas around Beijing in the north, Shanghai in the east and Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, in the south-life and work have started to follow the sinews of the high-speed rail system. But further inland, risks are mounting of excessive investment. In the densest parts of China, high-speed rail has been a boon: it is helping to create a deeply connected economy. Five years after the busiest bullet trains started running (the Beijing-Shanghai line opened in 2011), a tentative verdict is possible. The question is whether gains will outweigh losses. In their rush to build, waste is inevitable. At regular intervals-almost wherever there are stations, even if seemingly in the middle of nowhere-thickets of newly built offices and residential blocks rise from the ground.Ĭhina’s planners hope these will be like the railway towns that sprouted (at a slower pace) in America and Britain in the 19th century. Just as astonishing is urban growth alongside the tracks.

It is planning to lay another 15,000km by 2025 (see map). Today, it has 20,000km (12,500 miles) of high-speed rail lines, more than the rest of the world combined. Less than a decade ago China had yet to connect any of its cities by bullet train. To appreciate the extent of China’s high-speed rail ambitions, take Mr Gu’s dreams and multiply them many times over. In anticipation, he has built an old-age home, with plans to expand it into a complex for 5,000 people. Mr Gu, however, sees things differently: he expects a city to sprout up around the train station. The land still looks empty, served by first-rate infrastructure but home to few people and fewer businesses. But three years ago, when he finished paving a highway to a new high-speed railway station in this quiet corner of Anhui province, he decided it was time to switch industries. A burly chain-smoker, he spent 25 years overseeing road-building crews in central China. “THESE are fields of hope,” says Gu Zhen’an, gesturing at a barren scene.

Bullet train speed