(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-11 21:21

China's first domestically produced train that able to reach 350 kilometers per hour, rolled off the production line on Friday.

China Railway High-speed (CRH) train [File photo]

The train, the latest model in the China Railway High-speed series, was produced in the northern city of Tangshan by the China Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp.

After taking the train for a 2-km test run, Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun said the train marked "a new, significant achievement in China's railway equipment modernization."

The eight-carriage train, with a streamlined body made of light aluminum alloy, can seat 557 passengers.

Three such trains would begin service on the new 120-km Beijing-Tianjin route before the Olympics starts in August, the manufacturer said. They will cut the travel time from 80 minutes at present to 30 minutes.

In all, 57 such trains are expected to be in commercial operation by the end of 2009.

The train is based on the Siemens ICE 3. The manufacturer said it started to cooperate with the technical support provider in 2005 and created its own platform based on the world-class technology.

China developed the bullet train with a view to "providing equipment support for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway" and "becoming a front runner in world high-speed railway technology," according to the Ministry of Railways.

China unveiled the first domestic 300-km/hr train in December, becoming the fourth country -- after France, Germany and Japan -- that can produce such trains.

The Beijing-Tianjin railway is considered a trial line for the 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, which will be completed in five years and run at 300 km/hr to 350 km/hr.

"China's railway service has long fallen short of demand," said Li Heping, a researcher at the China Academy of Railway Sciences. "There are two solutions: building more railways and raising the train speed."

China had raised train speeds six times as of April 2007, with railways allowing a speed of more than 200 km/hr totaling 6,227 km in length.

By 2020, the total length of such railways will reach 18,000 km and express train services will cover 50,000 km, benefiting 90 percent of China's population, according to the government.