BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday opened
the world's longest high-speed rail line that more than halves the time required
to travel from the country's capital in the north to Guangzhou, an economic hub
in southern China.
The opening of the 2,298 kilometer (1,428
mile)-line was commemorated by the 9 a.m. departure of a train from Beijing for
Guangzhou. Another train left Guangzhou for Beijing an hour later.
China has massive resources and
considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.
But it has in recent months faced
high-profile problems: part of a line collapsed in central China after heavy
rains in March, while a bullet train crash in the summer of 2011 killed 40
people. The former railway minister, who spearheaded the bullet train's
construction, and the ministry's chief engineer, were detained in an unrelated
corruption investigation months before the crash.
Trains on the latest high-speed line will
initially run at 300 kph (186 mph) with a total travel time of about eight
hours. Before, the fastest time between the two cities by train was more than 20
hours.
The line also makes stops in major cities
along the way, including provincial capitals Shijiazhuang, Wuhan and
Changsha.
More than 150 pairs of high-speed trains
will run on the new line every day, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing
the Ministry of Railways.
Railway is an essential part in China's
transportation system, and the government plans to build a grid of high-speed
railways with four east-west lines and four north-south lines by 2020.
The opening of the new line brings the
total distance covered by China's high-speed railway system to more than 9,300
km (5,800 miles) — about half its 2015 target of 18,000
km.
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