09/05/2026
Wow… that’s actually amazing.
Han Junjia started his career as a train driver in China in 1992, operating steam locomotives that could barely reach 40 mph. Two decades later, he's driving bullet trains that travel at 217 mph.
These two photos tell the story of China's railway transformation, and Han was there for all of it.
When he started, the working conditions were brutal. Steam locomotives had no safety control equipment, and drivers had to manually control everything. The engine room was like a stove in summer, and in winter, frost would block the windows so drivers had to lean halfway out just to see the tracks.
But as China's economy grew, so did its railway system. Han went from steam locomotives to diesel trains in 1996, then to electric trains in 2010. By 2017, he was operating the Fuxing bullet train, one of the fastest trains in the world.
"Whenever I drove a new train, I felt the progress of the country's rail technology," Han told reporters. He holds eight different operating licenses, each one representing a new generation of trains.
The transformation wasn't without sacrifices. Han admits he missed important moments in his daughter's life, her first word, her first days of school, because of his demanding schedule. But the faster trains eventually meant he could spend more time with his family.
Today, China operates the world's largest high speed rail network, covering over 40,000 kilometers. And Han Junjia got to witness and drive every step of that journey.