New high-speed train set for trial run

A trial run of China's new high-speed bullet train, which uses a cutting-edge traction system, will start soon, according to the head of the high-speed railway innovation program.

The permanent magnet synchronous traction system was developed by CSR Corp Ltd, one of the country's two major locomotive makers, at its Zhuzhou Institute in Hunan province. It has passed preliminary examination by national railway test authorities and has been installed on a new bullet train produced by CSR Qingdao Sifang Co Ltd in Shandong province, said Jia Limin, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University who heads China's high-speed railway innovation program.

"If everything goes well, we will begin a trial run in a short time and then improve the equipment based on the tests," he said. "I think the new train will become fully operational by 2018."