History of railway tunnel construction in China


 In the fifty years after the founding of the People's Republic of China there were 6213 railway tunnels constructed with a total length of 3511km, on average more than 120 tunnels and more than 70km in length accomplished each year.

 Number of railway tunnels built in each period in the years form 1888 to 1999 is listed in table I.

Period

(year)

Kilomenters
Of operated
railways by
the end of
the last year
(km)

Number of tunnels built in each period

Number of tunnels built by the end of the last year

Amount

Total
length(km)

Average
Length per tunnel(m)

Amount

Total
length(km)

Average
Length per tunnel(m)

Percentage
Of tunnel
length to
linelength(%)

1988~1949

21810

665

156.34

235

665

156.34

235

0.72

1950~1959

32256

1005

306.39

305

1670

462.73

277

1.43

1960~1969

39322

1113

660.30

593

2783

1123.03

404

2.86

1970~1979

49808

1954

1034.67

530

4737

2157.70

455

4.33

1980~1989

53187

319

198.60

623

5056

2356.30

466

4.43

1990~1999

57923

1822

1310.72

719

6878

3667.02

533

6.33

Note:

   1.Kilometers of operated railway stand for national railways

   2.Number of tunnels built includes those not put to operation,and the amount in the period 1990-1999 includes some tunnels accomplished after 1999.

   3.The data of railway tunnels in Taiwan are wanting,with only one tunnel(Shiqiuling)included in the statistics