Topological vulnerability of Chinese high speed rail network

Chinese high speed rail network has been given more and more attentions recent years, and it is adopted to improve the whole developments of society. Medium-short term planning of Chinese high speed rail network is given and the topological structure of Chinese high-speed rail network is discussed to investigate the reliability of network based on complex network theory and graph theory. Several parameters are presented to assess the topological characteristics of Chinese high speed rail network, and the reliability and robustness of the network subject to attacks can be evaluated. The parameter called unit degree betwweenness is firstly proposed to assess the transportation capacity of lines connecting with the nodes. Two attack protocols, the largest degree node-based attacks and the highest betweenness node-based attacks, are involved into Chinese high speed rail network to assess the topological reliability and robustness, and the results show that the highest betweenness node-based attacks can cause more damages to the network than the largest degree node-based attacks. Structural interventions are adopted to improve the global connectivity and enhance the reliability and robustness of Chinese high speed rail network, and they are proved to be effective by simulations.