China to launch high-speed train in 2012

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-09-09 16:52

A trial high-speed train with a speed of 500 km per hour will be off line by the end of next year, Zhang Shuguang, a senior expert with the China Academy of Railway Sciences, revealed at the 11th annual meeting of the China Association of Science and Technology held in Chongqing, the Xinhuanet quoted Chengdu Business Daily as saying.

Travel time between Beijing and Chongqing will be shortened to seven hours by 2012 and it will also take only seven hours to travel between Shanghai and Chengdu, the report said.

Zhang said the country will build 42 high-speed railway lines for passenger transportation with a speed of 350 km per hour in the next three years.

China has made a breakthrough in the development of high-speed railway technologies as high-speed trains can run both on high-speed railways and normal railways, which will greatly enhance the efficiency of China's railway network, Zhang said.

When the high-speed network completes construction between 2011 and 2012, it will be able to carry over 7 billion passengers each year, Zhang noted.