China starts longest bullet train service
China started service yesterday on the world's longest high-speed rail route, the latest milestone in the country's rapid - and, sometimes, troubled - rail network.
The opening of the 2,298km line between Beijing and Guangzhou means passengers will be whisked from the capital to the southern commercial hub in just eight hours, compared with the 22 hours required previously.
State broadcaster China Central Television showed a 9am departure of the first train live from Beijing West Railway Station and its arrival later in Guangzhou at about 5pm.
It also carried live reports from inside the train, showing passengers toting cameras to snap commemorative photos.
Another train departed from Guangzhou for the capital at 10am, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Trains will travel at an average speed of 300kmh over the line, which includes 35 stops in major cities such as Zhengzhou, Wuhan on the Yangtze River and Changsha.
The Beijing-Guangzhou route was made possible with the completion of a line between Zhengzhou and Beijing.
High-speed sections linking Zhengzhou and Wuhan, and Wuhan and Guangzhou, were already in service.
China's high-speed rail network was established in 2007, but has fast become the world's largest with 8,358km of track at the end of 2010.
That is expected to almost double to 16,000km by 2020.
The network, however, has been plagued by graft and safety scandals, most notably a deadly bullet-train collision in July last year that killed 40 people and sparked public outrage.
The authorities said they have taken steps ahead of the line's opening to improve emergency-response measures, and maintenance and inspection of infrastructure, including track and rolling stock.
According to a ministry booklet, "the emergency-rescue system and all kinds of emergency pre-plans are established to improve emergency-response ability".
The start of the train service means that it will be in service over the Chinese New Year holiday period, which falls in the middle of February next year.
Hundreds of millions of people travel across the country during that period to visit their ancestral hometowns in the world's largest annual migration. --AFP
China started service yesterday on the world's longest high-speed rail route, the latest milestone in the country's rapid - and, sometimes, troubled - rail network.
The opening of the 2,298km line between Beijing and Guangzhou means passengers will be whisked from the capital to the southern commercial hub in just eight hours, compared with the 22 hours required previously.
State broadcaster China Central Television showed a 9am departure of the first train live from Beijing West Railway Station and its arrival later in Guangzhou at about 5pm.
It also carried live reports from inside the train, showing passengers toting cameras to snap commemorative photos.
Another train departed from Guangzhou for the capital at 10am, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Trains will travel at an average speed of 300kmh over the line, which includes 35 stops in major cities such as Zhengzhou, Wuhan on the Yangtze River and Changsha.
The Beijing-Guangzhou route was made possible with the completion of a line between Zhengzhou and Beijing.
High-speed sections linking Zhengzhou and Wuhan, and Wuhan and Guangzhou, were already in service.
China's high-speed rail network was established in 2007, but has fast become the world's largest with 8,358km of track at the end of 2010.
That is expected to almost double to 16,000km by 2020.
The network, however, has been plagued by graft and safety scandals, most notably a deadly bullet-train collision in July last year that killed 40 people and sparked public outrage.
The authorities said they have taken steps ahead of the line's opening to improve emergency-response measures, and maintenance and inspection of infrastructure, including track and rolling stock.
According to a ministry booklet, "the emergency-rescue system and all kinds of emergency pre-plans are established to improve emergency-response ability".
The start of the train service means that it will be in service over the Chinese New Year holiday period, which falls in the middle of February next year.
Hundreds of millions of people travel across the country during that period to visit their ancestral hometowns in the world's largest annual migration. --AFP
