China launches world's fastest train
26 Dec 2009
China today launched the world's fastest train that connects the cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 350 km an hour.
The super-high-speed train reduces the 1,069 km distance between Guangzhou, a business hub in southern China near Hong Kong, with Wuhan, a metropolis in central China, to a mere three hour journey, more than halving the current journey time, Xinhua news agency said.
Two passenger trains simultaneously rolled out from the Wuhan railway station and Guangzhou north railway station at about 9 am and reached the terminals within three hours, reports said.
Earlier, in test runs during this month, the train had recorded a maximum speed of 394.2 km per hour and the operations officially began today, Xinhua quoted Xu Fangliang, general engineer in charge of designing the link, as saying.
The current average for high-speed trains in Japan is 243 km per hour while in France it is 277 km per hour, according to Fangliang.
The technology for the new train link has been developed in co-operation with Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom.
The super-fast train link is expected to give a boost to tourism and attract investments in Guangzhou.
Meanwhile, China also achieved over 30,000 km of railway electrification, the China CREC Railway Electrification Bureau Group (CCREBG) said today.
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