Harbin-Dalian route keeps running as temperatures plunge to -40 C

Since its official launch in December 2012, China's first high-speed rail line that operates in regions with extremely low temperatures, as low as -40 C, has been undergoing monitoring to see how it copes - and it is coping well.

The 921-km line with 23 stops, links Harbin, capital of China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang, and the port city of Dalian, in Liaoning province.

The line operates two different schedules: The winter schedule, from December to April, sees trains running at a top speed of 200 km/h; the summer schedule operates during the rest of the year when trains reach 300 km/h.