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Railroads--China--Congresses and Railroads--Congresses

In many countries, the development of railway science is of great significance to both the economy and society, and transdisciplinary studies involving railways and other fields has also become more important in recent years. This book presents the proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Innovation & Sustainability of Modern Railway (ISMR 2020), held in Nanchang, China from 23 - 25 October 2020. The symposium has been held biennially since 2008 and is principally aimed at expanding the scientific partnership between Russian and Chinese transport universities in the field of railway transportation. It is organized in a collaboration between the Federal Railway Transport Agency, Irkutsk State Transport University (IrGUPS) and East China Jiaotong University, and enables scientists from Russia, China and Mongolia to come together to discuss breakthrough technologies, as well as the problems of innovation in the secure operation of modern railways. Despite the disruption caused by the global pandemic, 89 submissions were received for the 2020 edition, 38 of which were selected after review for presentation and publication here. These comprise 12 papers dealing with railways and mechanics, 20 covering railways and computer sciences, and 6 related to railways and management, together with the 2 contributions of the invited keynote speakers (professor Xiaoyan Lei, principle of East China Jiaotong University, and professor Erol Guler from George Mason University). The book provides an insight into new ideas and developments in the industry, and will be of interest to all railway practitioners.

Railroads--China--History, Railroads and state--China--History, and Infrastructure (Economics)--China

As a vehicle to convey both the history of modern China and the complex forces still driving the nation's economic success, rail has no equal. Railroads and the Transformation of China is the first comprehensive history, in any language, of railroad operation from the last decades of the Qing Empire to the present.China's first fractured lines were built under semicolonial conditions by competing foreign investors. The national system that began taking shape in the 1910s suffered all the ills of the country at large: warlordism and Japanese invasion, Chinese partisan sabotage, the Great Leap Forward when lines suffered in the “battle for steel,” and the Cultural Revolution, during which Red Guards were granted free passage to “make revolution” across the country, nearly collapsing the system. Elisabeth Köll's expansive study shows how railroads survived the rupture of the 1949 Communist revolution and became an enduring model of Chinese infrastructure expansion.The railroads persisted because they were exemplary bureaucratic institutions. Through detailed archival research and interviews, Köll builds case studies illuminating the strength of rail administration. Pragmatic management, combining central authority and local autonomy, sustained rail organizations amid shifting political and economic priorities. As Köll shows, rail provided a blueprint for the past forty years of ambitious, semipublic business development and remains an essential component of the PRC's politically charged, technocratic economic model for China's future.

Soldiers--United States--Biography, Military railroads--India--History--20th century, Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945--Participation, American, Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945--Transportation, Military railroads--Burma--History--20th century, and Military railroads--China--History--20th century

In a theater of war long forgotten and barely even known at the time, James Harry Hantzis and his fellow soldiers labored at a thankless task under oppressive conditions. Nonetheless, as Rails of War demonstrates, without the men of the 721st Railway Operating Battalion, the Allied forces would have been defeated in the China-Burma-India conflict in World War II. Steven James Hantzis's father served alongside other GI railroaders in overcoming danger, disease, fire, and monsoons to move the weight of war in the China-Burma-India theater. Torn from their predictable working-class lives, the men of the 721st journeyed fifteen thousand miles to Bengal, India, to do the impossible: build, maintain, and manage seven hundred miles of track through the most inhospitable environment imaginable. From the harrowing adventures of the Flying Tigers and Merrill's Marauders to detailed descriptions of grueling jungle operations and the Siege of Myitkyina, this is the remarkable story of the extraordinary men of the 721st, who moved an entire army to win the war. For more information about Rails of War, visit railsofwar.com.

High speed trains--China and Railroads--China

After a decade of steady investment and construction, Chinese railways have evolved into an era of high-speed. This book has two objectives. The first is to introduce the Chinese railway system to an international audience and document the evolutionary process of railway development in China. For the first time, this book clarifies the Chinese experience with HSR deployment and details the economic and physical achievements and related managerial issues and institutional challenges. The second objective is to discuss and analyze critical concerns regarding Chinese railway operations, management and institutional structure. This book analyses best practices of railway reform, reform strategies and considers how to improve China's related institutions. This research reflects on experiences in other countries and policy implications for the Chinese railway system. The book makes recommendations for how to improve the capability and capacity of institutions and organizations, in order to achieve sustainable development of the Chinese HSR system.

Railroads--China--Manchuria--History--20th century

The railways of Manchuria offer an intriguing vantage point for an international history of northeast Asia. Before the completion of the Trans-Siberian railway in 1916, the only rail route from the Imperial Russian capital of St. Petersburg to the Pacific port of Vladivostok transited Manchuria. A spur line from the Manchurian city of Harbin led south to ice-free Port Arthur. Control of these two rail lines gave Imperial Russia military, economic, and political advantages that excited rivalry on the part of Japan and unease on the part of weak and divided China. Meanwhile, the effort to defend and retain that strategic hold against rising Japanese power strained distant Moscow. Control of the Manchurian railways was contested in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5; Japan's 1931 invasion and establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo; the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II in Asia; and, the Chinese civil war that culminated in the Communist victory over the Nationalists. Today, the railways are critical to plans for development of China's sparsely populated interior. This volume brings together an international group of scholars to explore this fascinating history.

Railroads--China--Tibet Autonomous Region, Women, Tibetan--China--Tibet Autonomous Region, and Women's rights--China--Tibet Autonomous Region

Through a lyrical narrative of her journey to Tibet in 2007, activist Canyon Sam contemplates modern history from the perspective of Tibetan women. Traveling on China's new'Sky Train,'she celebrates Tibetan New Year with the Lhasa family whom she'd befriended decades earlier and concludes an oral-history project with women elders.As she uncovers stories of Tibetan women's courage, resourcefulness, and spiritual strength in the face of loss and hardship since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, and observes the changes wrought by the controversial new rail line in the futuristic'new Lhasa,'Sam comes to embrace her own capacity for letting go, for faith, and for acceptance. Her glimpse of Tibet's past through the lens of the women - a visionary educator, a freedom fighter, a gulag survivor, and a child bride - affords her a unique perspective on the state of Tibetan culture today - in Tibet, in exile, and in the widening Tibetan diaspora.Gracefully connecting the women's poignant histories to larger cultural, political, and spiritual themes, the author comes full circle, finding wisdom and wholeness even as she acknowledges Tibet's irreversible changes.

Railroads--China--Hong Kong and Railroads and state--China--Hong Kong

With the “merger” of the MTRC and the KCRC in 2007, the history of Hong Kong's railways turned a new page. The two government-owned corporations were exceptionally profitable. Yet, this commercially successful railway model was not without social costs and political controversies. Moving Millions critically examines the governance history of the MTRC and the KCRC over the past three decades, and sheds light on the challenges to Hong Kong's railway after the “merger”. The author discusses complex relationships between railway management, government policy and politics. Critical issues are analysed, including corporate governance; railway-property development; funding and managing new projects; mismanagement and controversies; public accountability; and passenger interest in fares, choice and convenience. The book compares how differently the MTRC and the KCRC dealt with the government, civil society, the market, and with each other to achieve commercial objectives and tackle public interests issues in a post-industrial society, where public expectations are rising despite constraints in democracy.