Riding the Future: What China’s High-Speed Rail and EV Revolution Reveal About America's Infrastructure Failures

Thomas Ott, MBA, PE -

I just returned from an unexpected trip to China with my partner. We went to visit her aging parents, reconnect with her family, and, of course, indulge in an abundance of delicious Chinese food. While there, we took a short three-day excursion to the Guilin area.

Guilin, a prefecture-level city in the Guangxi autonomous region, is famous for its rice noodles, rich history, and the breathtaking Tower Karst formations.

As a civil engineer, I was in awe of these stunning geological formations, with the Li River winding through them. We took a river rafting trip along the Yulong River and soaked in every moment. Our adventure culminated in visiting the landscape featured on the 20 Yuan note.

(c) Author

While these highlights made for a fantastic trip, what truly fascinated me—what made the civil engineer in me geek out—was the high-speed rail (HSR) system we took to and from Guilin.

For the first time in my life, I rode an Asian high-speed rail train. I’ve been on HSR before, but never on a network this modern, built entirely from scratch.

China’s High-Speed Rail: A Study in Execution

Back in the late 2000s, I worked for a rail consultancy, mostly focusing on local transportation projects. I also contributed to several Amtrak-related reports, working alongside a strong transportation planning group.

One of the most exciting projects I worked on was a feasibility study for a high-speed rail corridor connecting parts of Ohio to Chicago. At the time, the California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) project was just launching, and there was an electric sense of optimism that this would trigger a high-speed rail boom in the U.S.

That never happened.

Fast forward 20 years, and we’re still arguing about whether to finish California’s high-speed rail project. The Trump administration is “reviewing” it and may pull federal funding altogether.

Meanwhile, during the same period of debate and delay, China has built a fully operational high-speed rail network spanning the entire country.

Here’s what China’s HSR network looked like in 2008:

(c) Wikimedia

And here’s what it looks like today:

(c) Wikimedia

In less than a decade, China went from three small corridors to an expansive national network. By contrast, since 2008, California has managed to build just 119 miles of track, and it’s still not operational.

Our vision for HSR in the U.S.? Blurred. Misaligned. Fractured.

The Electric Vehicle (EV) Revolution: A Silent Shift

The moment I crossed into Gongbei, I noticed something strange—it was quiet. Too quiet. At first, I thought my ears were failing, but something felt different. I asked my brother-in-law if anything had changed, and he explained that most scooters and cars are now electric. “They have green license plates,” he said.

I started looking for green license plate vehicles and there were a lot of them. There appeared to be a mix of pure EVs and hybrid EVs and I started tallying them in my head.

By my observation, around 75% of the vehicles on the road were either hybrids or full EVs. Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles were still common in construction, farming, and public transport, but the transformation was undeniable.

Everywhere I went on the mainland I saw more EVs than ICEs. One thing to note was that the further we traveled into the countryside, the more that percentage dropped. When we were in Yangshou it was roughly 50/50 EV to ICE, but that's not because of reluctance or resistance—it was simply because the charging infrastructure hadn’t caught up yet.

A decade ago, China had virtually no EV infrastructure. Today, and with government incentives, the Chinese people are moving full-speed ahead on modernizing their transportation systems, while the current US administration calls climate science a hoax and is focusing on fossil fuels.

If You Build It, They Will Come

One big economic benefit I almost overlooked (I admit I was distracted by the shiny HSR trains), was just how powerful building a new station is to the local area. The day we went rafting on the Yulong River we took a taxi to the boat launch area.

On our way to the river, a taxi driver told us how his village changed after the Yangshuo rail station was built. Once the Yangshou station was built and running, tourism exploded. Roads were paved. New restaurants popped up. The local economy thrived.

This is classic Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). Build reliable transportation infrastructure, and everything else follows—commerce, jobs, economic growth. It’s a proven formula.

It benefits everyone:

  • The local economy
  • Tourists
  • Contractors & design engineers
  • Material producers
  • Workers & laborers
  • The regional economy

And it’s not just a theoretical impact. Official 2023 statistics show that China’s high-speed rail system moves 10 million passengers per day. At peak times, that number exceeds 20 million. The total number of passenger trips in 2023? A staggering 3.68 billion.

To put that into perspective, China moves the equivalent of 3% of the entire U.S. population every single day via HSR.

Meanwhile, in America, we’re still debating whether trains should exist and we're pulling support for a national EV charging station network.

Priorities: Infrastructure or Fossil Fuels?

As we traveled back from Guilin to Zhu Hai, I saw more HSR lines under construction, more stations being built. I saw the site work and piers built that would support a true grade-separated HSR line.

China is all-in on their modern transportation infrastructure. Their entire high-speed rail system runs on electricity and everywhere I look, their vehicle fleet is rapidly transitioning to EVs.

We're so damn behind in the U.S. Why are we doubling down on fossil fuels and polluting the air with our internal combustion engines? China's focus on renewable energy technology to support their modern infrastructure only means we will be left behind in the global market.

If we truly wanted to “put America first,” we’d start by putting infrastructure first. You can't have a first world nation without first world infrastructure. We need vision. We need commitment. We need to build a modern transportation system that's not just good for the planet but for us Americans.

That's how you make America Great.