by John Yonge
The third edition of this atlas from specialist rail cartographer Quail has taken 3½ years to update, so rapid has been growth of China's rail network.
The maps have been completely redrawn in colour since the second edition was published in 1998, and the opportunity has been taken to enlarge the scale and add more stations. A major development is of course the opening of the line to Tibet, but coverage extends to much smaller lines such as the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple funicular.
The 64 A4-sized pages include 44 pages of maps, showing single and multiple- track routes, electrification systems and gauges. There are 41 enlargements of major cities, and detailed track plans are given of the urban railways in Hong Kong. Coverage includes the railways of Taiwan and Mongolia.
There is a one-page history of China's railways since the first line opened between Shanghai and Wusung in 1876, a list of locomotive and rolling stock factories, and a gazetteer of lines and their opening dates.
ISBN 978-1 898319 82-5
£20 from The Quail Map Company 2 Lincoln Road, Exeter, EX4 2DZ, UK