Abstract: In order to improve the invulnerability and reliability of HSRN in the face of emergency and to ensure smooth and efficient operation of HSRN, topological structures of China's HSRN in three periods were built based on complex network theory, network characteristics and evolution rules were studied. Integrated station importance evaluation index combining degree and betweenness was given to discover the important stations. Through the analysis of network efficiency and relative size of the largest connected subgraph, the HSRN's performance was studied under random and malicious attacks. Results show that China's HSRN adds network's connectivity in the mid-term while enriches agglomeration effects in the long-term, that Wuhan, Tianjin, Changsha and Xiangyang are the important stations in different development stages, and that HSRN possesses robustness under random attack and vulnerability under malicious attack.

Key words: high speed railway network (HSRN), complexity, vulnerability, important station, complex network