China to link Beijing - Shanghai with high speed bullet train

China is aiming to make a high-speed rail line linking Beijing and the financial capital Shanghai, Chinese state media today reported.

Chinese-designed trains capable of speeds up to 380 kilometers (236 miles) an hour will make the 1,300-kilometre journey between Beijing and Shanghai in about four hours, the China Daily quoted Zhang Shuguang, the ministry of railways' deputy chief engineer, as having said.

The railway ministry has been mulling linking major cities across China with constructing high-tech railway lines after the success of the bullet train on the Beijing - Tianjin line, which reaches top speeds of 350 kph, reducing the journey to a mere half hour.

This new line will link the country's capital with the financial capital which is separated by 1,318 kilometers in just four to five hours and will be the longest high-speed railway line to be built in one go in the world. The line is part of China's ambitious plans to build more than 12,000 kilometers of high speed railway to connect its major urban cities.

Previously the trains had been planned to run at up 350 kilometers an hour, the same speed as the current generation of Chinese "bullet" rail services, and take about five hours. The quickest trains can currently travel between Beijing and Shanghai is 10 hours.

Using Siemens' technology, Tangshan Railway Vehicles Co Ltd in Hebei province has started production of CRH-3, a jointly designed 350-kph train, and is expected to be able to manufacture 50 such trains by next year.

Construction has begun on the new rail line and is expected to be completed within four years, the report said, citing the ministry.

The new trains with five hours travel time would also present a stiff challenge to airlines, which have a considerable number of flights daily between the two cities with flying time of 2 hours.

China already has a train service capable of reaching speeds of more than 430 kilometres an hour, the MAGLEV line between central Shanghai and its main international airport. However, China does not count that as the world's fastest regular train; as the futuristic technology sees it float above the rail line using magnetic levitation.

In the past few years, China has imported technology to manufacture 200-250 kph bullet trains from France, Japan and Canada, and German engineering giant Siemens agreed to transfer a full set of technology for manufacturing 350-kph trains.

The government has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to upgrade its rail network by 2020 by rolling out sleek new trains with the Beijing-Shanghai line being the first of the major north-south high speed lines.

China is undertaking a programme to build 17,000km of new lines, 7,000 of them dedicated, high-speed passenger lines.

According to the government's 11th Five-Year Plan for the country's economic development between 2006 and 2010, the investment budget for railway infrastructure construction will reach $183.8 billion. The government expects to spend $35.3 billion on railway vehicle purchases from 2008 to 2010.

The railway ministry official said that China has established a comprehensive system for bullet train manufacturing, including basic theory, design, manufacture, maintenance and appraisal.

In the past few years, China has imported technology to manufacture 200-250 kph bullet trains from France, Japan and Canada, and German engineering giant Siemens agreed to transfer a full set of technology for manufacturing 350-kph trains.

The passenger-train and electric freight locomotive markets are dominated by the rail arm of Canada's Bombardier, France's Alstom and Germany's Siemens. The diesel freight locomotive markets are dominated by the US's General Electric and Electro-Motive Diesel.