Steam
1414 photos
updated : 2024-04-29
China was the last country in the world to use steam locomotives in quantity and a handful still remain in service today. It was a very different story in the 1980s and 1990s, with thousands of locos of different classes and gauges hard at work across the country on the national network, local railways and in industry.
Passenger Trains
246 photos
updated : 2024-04-20
Passenger trains weren't confined to the national system in China, with many local and industrial railways running their own services. Main line passenger traffic was booming pre-Covid with frequent high-speed EMUs on principal routes as well as more traditional long distance and local trains everywhere else.
Main Line Freight
375 photos
updated : 2022-12-03
China's railways still carry incredible volumes of freight traffic with freight trains outnumbering passengers on most lines by quite a margin. As on most systems there are block trains of coal, containers or oil tanks but also a large volume of wagonload freight, making for interesting consists.