China Launches World’s Longest Bullet Train Service
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China has officially opened the world’s longest high-speed rail network, spanning 2,298 kilometers from Beijing, the capital in the north, to Guangzhou, the southern commercial metropolis.
The opening of the new 2,298-kilometre (1,425-mile) 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 previously required.
China has officially opened the world’s longest high-speed rail network, spanning 2,298 kilometers from Beijing, the capital in the north, to Guangzhou, the southern commercial metropolis.
The opening of the new 2,298-kilometre (1,425-mile) 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 previously required.
State media in China broadcast the 09:00 departure of the first train live from Beijing West Railway Station while another train departed Guangzhou for the capital at 10:00, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Ministry of Railway, the new high-speed line will not only improve transportation conditions but will also boost the investment environment and economic conditions of cities along the route.
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Zhou Lo, director-general of science and technology at the Ministry of Railways, said:
[quote] The rail network closely connects economic hubs like the Pan-Bohai economic zone, central China, the Yangtze River Delta economic zone and the Pearl River Delta economic zone and will greatly boost socioeconomic development in these regions. [/quote]
China’s high-speed rail network was established in 2007 and now spans 9,300 kilometres, making it the world’s longest and fastest-growing network.
The state-run China Daily newspaper reported on Wednesday that the network, which will eventually connect to Hong Kong, is expected to reach 50,000 kilometres by 2020, with four main lines connecting the north and south and another four connecting the east and west.
However, the rail network, while a proud symbol of China’s emergence as a global economic power, has also been plagued by graft and safety scandals, such as a collision in July 2011 that killed 40 people.
Rail investment has slowed sharply in the wake of that accident and state media reported earlier this year that the government had cut planned railway investment by 500 billion yuan ($80.27 billion) to 2.3 trillion yuan under a five-year plan to 2015.
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