High-speed railway development will make it easy for passengers to reach a
large hub airport. Hence, via advanced systems of communication, the airlines and
high-speed railways can use their advantages together. In fact, there are many
airports in the world where such air-railway models are adopted, with even a
special railway waiting room set up for passengers in the airport. But in China, the
biggest obstacle for air-railway allied transportation comes from ‘‘non-smooth’’
communication channels between the different administrative departments to
Table 1.6 Railway Freight
Traffic Years Volume (millions of tons)
2001 1926
2002 2044
2003 2235
2004 2481
2005 2684
2006 2871
2007 3145
2008 3259
2009 3320
2010 3640
Source http://www.stats.gov.cn
1 Logistics in China 13
which they belong. Recently, China has opened a communication hub center in
Shanghai. That furnishes not just an air-rail connection, but also connects the
subway and highway systems of Shanghai