1 Overview of railway tunnels

As of the end of 2017, the operating railway mileage in China had reached 127 000 km. About 14 547 tunnels with total length of 15 326 km had been put into operation.

(1)Newly increased: 465 railway tunnels with total length of 1 206 had been put into operation in 2017, among which there were 26 extra-long tunnels with total length of 368 km and 6 tunnels with single tunnel length over 15 km, as shown in Table 1. Extra-long tunnel refers to the tunnel with length over 10 km.

Table 1 Newly increased extra-long railway tunnel with single tunnel length over 15 km in 2017, China

(2)Under construction: 3 825 tunnels with total length of 8 125 km were under construction.

(3)Planned: 5 596 tunnels with total length of 13 331 km were planned.

2 Overview of high-speed railway tunnels

As of the end of 2017, the operating high-speed railway kilometerage in China had reached 25 000 km. About 2 835 tunnels with total length of 4 537 km had been constructed, among which there were 60 extra-long tunnels with total length of 775 km and 5 tunnels with single tunnel length over 15 km, as shown in Table 2.

(1) Newly increased: 6 high-speed railway lines with total length of 1 206 km had been put into operation in 2017; there were 198 tunnels with total length of 604 km, among which there were 16 extra-long tunnels with single tunnel length over 10 km and total length of 210 km, as shown in Table 3.

Table 2 Operating extra-long high-speed railway tunnels with single tunnel length over 15 km in China

Table 3 Newly increased extra-long high-speed railway tunnels in 2017, China

Continued Table 3

(2) Under construction: 40 high-speed railway lines with total length of 9 956 were under construction; there were 1 456 tunnels with total length of 3 057 km, among which there were extra-long 54 tunnels with total length of 683 km and 8 tunnels with single tunnel length over 15 km, as shown in Table 4. There were 920 high-speed railway tunnels with total length of 2 179 km and designed speed of 300-350 km/h and 536 tunnels with total length of 878 km and designed speed of 250 km/h.

(3) Planned: As of the end of 2017, there were 72 planed high-speed railway lines with total length of 15 051 km; 2 687 tunnels with total length of 5 482 km, among which there were 83 extra-long tunnel with total length of 1 128 km and 17 tunnels with single tunnel length over 15 km, as shown in Table 5. There were 1 720 high-speed railway tunnels with total length of 3 654 km and designed speed of 300-350 km/h and 967 tunnels with total length of 1 828 km and designed speed of 250 km/h.

Table 4 Extra-long high-speed railway tunnel under construction with single tunnel length over 15 km in China

Table 5 Planed extra-long high-speed railway tunnels with single tunnel length over 15 km in China

Continued Table 5

3 Overview of extra-long railway tunnels

As of the end of 2017, the operating extra-long railway tunnels had reached 132 with total length of 1 812 km, among which there were 9 tunnels with single tunnel length over 20 km and total length of 219 km, as shown in Table 6.

Table 6 Operating extra-long railway tunnel with single tunnel length over 20 km in China

Continued Table 6

(1)Newly increased: 26 tunnels with total length of 368 km had been put into operation in 2017, among which there were 1 tunnel with length over 20 km, namely West Qinling Tunnel on Lanzhou-Chongqing Railway (28.2 km long).

(2)Under construction: 156 extra-long tunnels with total length of 2 115 km were under construction, among which there were 6 tunnel with single tunnel length over 20 km and total length of 151 km, as shown in Table 7.

Table 7 Extra-long railway tunnels under construction with single tunnel length over 20 km in China

Continued Table 7

(3)Planned: There were 270 planned extra-long tunnels with total length of 3 834 km, among which there were 19 tunnel with single tunnel length over 20 km and total length of 465 km, as shown in Table 8.

Table 8 Planed extra-long railway tunnels with single tunnel length over 20 km in China

Continued Table 8

Remarks: The study was provided by ZHAO Yong and TIAN Siming from Engineering Design and Appraisal Center of CHINA RAILWAY. The data above do not include those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.