Grand Central gets up to speed

Forget cheap toys, clothing and fireworks. Trains, planes and automobiles are China's next big exports and they're coming your way very soon.

That's the lesson drawn from my first experience on China's new high-speed train and while Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, can fret about tariffs on shoes, he'll be blown off his platforms by this one.

Sleek, smart and streamlined it looks like nothing else in a Chinese station.

I've been on some pretty ropey trains in my time, but this certainly isn't one of them.

As soon as train D754 glided out of Shenzhen it was a whole new experience not just for China but potentially the UK, and other European countries that have not yet developed their own TGVs, ICEs or Pendolinos.

China, industrialising rapidly, is building more and more of its own high-tech products, not just for itself but increasingly for export. Whether or not it's stamped "Made in China" on the bottom, this country is now building real hardware it wants to sell to the world.

On the automobile front, it is a little further down the road and while the likes of Chery, Geely and SAIC may not yet be familiar household names, they will be coming to a showroom near you soon. Indeed, the new Chinese-built Rover, or Roewe as it is now known, has just hit the streets.

On the aviation front, the country has announced plans to build its own large passenger jet by 2020 to challenge Airbus and Boeing's duopoly.

But it is on the railways where the CRH (China Rail High-Speed) train could be its best export advertisement.

Grand Central's announcement of its plan to purchase the rolling stock was warmly received by Chinese media, with jongo. com describing it as a "breakthrough" which " follows years of efforts by Chinese manufacturers to break into the world's most important passenger train market and is likely to increase concern among established European manufacturers about their ability to compete with lower-cost Chinese products. Quite."

It's now too late, of course, for York even to think of catching up. Our city's train building history is just that: History.

But, sitting on board, it is easy to reflect that these fine carriages could have been rolling out of the Holgate works, crafted by the city's engineering experts - if there had been more political foresight on how important railways, and their speed, needed to be in the 21st century.

As it is, Grand Central plans to buy three diesel sets of the trains, capable of running at up to 140mph to replace its ageing 125 HSTs running between Sunderland and London through York by 2010.

April 18 was A-Day in China - Acceleration Day - when the country raised line-speeds across more than 6,000 kilometres of lines, at a cost of two billion UK pounds, to up to 250kph and introduced at least 140 sets of its CRH trains.

The upgrade meant that CRHs themselves, or Polaris as Grand Central are dubbing them, began running between Shenzhen and Guangzhou at 125mph (200kph).

So what is the ride like and how do the two trains compare?

The two Pearl River Delta cities lie 147 kilometres apart - slightly further than say York and Newcastle (129 kilometres), which GNER currently connects in around an hour. Electric CRHs have reduced the longer journey in China to 53 minutes non-stop.

There was little noise - no loud roar of a 125's diesel engines; no wobble across points onto the right track out of York or Kings Cross stations, or delay as all passengers had to be aboard minutes before its 13.02 departure. Luggage is X-rayed airline style as at every other Chinese station, and you have to pass through body scanners before you can even board with your first class ticket.

But once you find your numbered carriage - there are eight on the CRH; two first, five standard and a bistro/buffet car - seats are clearly numbered, with cabin crew on hand to help if you have any difficulty.

Unlike other Chinese trains and the UK, there is no step between the platform and train; all seats are allocated to ticket holders, there is no standing and the train is completely non-smoking.

In first class - which costs a 33 per cent premium on standard class - your seat is adjustable; seats are airline-style or with Eurostar-type fold down tables. There are overhead passenger controlled lights, pull-down blinds and video screens (although nothing was showing on my journey). Wi-Fi is available throughout.

Seats are wide with plenty of leg-room - foot-rests in first, but three abreast seating in second class or standard.

Obviously with the UK's smaller gauge the space will be more limited.

The seat pocket in front contains a guide to the train, a magazine and a travel sickness bag, and despite being on a train, is labelled "airsickness".

Toilets are western - although standard class maintains a squat style.

The airline analogy is not glib. Just as in Europe, Chinese Railways are now competing head-on for short-haul passengers, aiming to offer a similar comfortable, fast city centre to city centre experience. And the newly introduced CRH service between the two biggest and richest southern mainland cities, provides just that.

Within seconds of leaving Shenzhen you can feel the acceleration, firm but gentle - with a digital display at the end of each carriage showing current speed; time, and internal and external temperatures.

Most passengers - and the train is full - choose to read or sleep. Up in the buffet/bistro car, some passengers are enjoying microwaved Chinese ready-meals, fresh Chinese tea in small but comfortable surroundings. Fresh cotton tablecloths are topped off with vases of fresh orchids.

Drinkable hot and cold water is also available at the end of each carriage - a regular feature on Chinese trains but an innovation which would be welcomed on British trains by parents wanting to quickly warm their baby's bottle.

On my return, I watch the on-board speed display. Within a minute we have hit 140kph, another couple 160kph and the ride is still smooth. Fifteen minutes into the journey, we hit a steady spell at 200kph before we settle down to no less than 160kph. Both journeys are completed on time.

An export advertisement? Well, the CRH on this experience, would be more than a match for anything else currently running in the UK. Grand Central would appear to have made a fine choice.

Shenzhen and travelling around China

There is little to compare historic York with Shenzhen. Shenzhen has been created, literally, within less than 30 years, mainly to counterbalance the handover of Hong Kong, ten years ago in July, back to China.

Deng Xiao Ping, the country's then leader, foresaw the situation vividly - a capitalist enclave on its southern border - and a Communist state just across the river.

The Party's answer to prevent a vast influx of mainlanders seeking their fortune - in the already overpopulated colony - was to create a modern replica, with Chinese ideals, just kilometres from its neighbour. So in 1979, ahead of the handover, Boa'an, a former fishing village, became Shenzhen and the "one-country, two systems", opening China to capitalism and western investment , was born.

Shenzhen grew - and is still growing - attracting workers from throughout the country attracted by new industries, higher wages and better living conditions. It happily describes itself as a "city of migrants".

Roads, skyscrapers were built at alarming speeds and the growth continues. I have seen no true figure of Shenzhen's population, except that it is at least seven million and could be as high as 12 million.

In line with the size of the country, the Chinese think nothing of spending at least a day on a train.

On a seat if they can; if not they will stand. If it takes two or more days, few can afford more than a seat, let alone a sleeping berth.

Chinese CRH trains have reduced many journey times by half, and from Shenzhen to Shanghai by 7.5 hours, to a mere 17.5 hours.

China, which is also building airports at a rate unprecedented in the west and ordering huge numbers of planes, knows that railways still need to move its vast population around the country, hence its vast investment in track and trains.