Learn mandarin - China's 1st high-speed train takes the rail

BIZCHINA / News

China's 1st high-speed train takes the rail

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-23 13:55

A train designed to run at a speed of 200 km per hour left east China's
Shanghai for Suzhou in early morning on April 18, ushering in a
high-speed era for the world's fastest growing economy.

Numbered D460, a train designed to run at a speed of 200 km per hour
leaves east China's Shanghai for Suzhou, April 18, 2007, marking the
beginning of the sixth "speed boost" of Chinese railways, which has been
hard-pressed to cope with the country's hunger for bigger transport
capacity. [Xinhua]

Nationwide, 140 pairs of high-speed trains with a speed of 200 km per
hour or a faster speed will begin to hit the railways on Wednesday. The
number will increase to 257 by the end of this year.

Numbered D460, the train left Shanghai at 5:38 a.m. and is expected to
arrive in Suzhou 39 minutes later.

Wednesday marks the the beginning of the sixth "speed boost" of Chinese
railways, which has been hard-pressed to cope with the country's hunger
for bigger transport capacity.

Chinese railway officials said last year, China fulfilled a quarter of
the world's total railway transport volume on railways accounting for
only 6 percent of the world's total length.

"The sixth speed lift will boost passenger capacity and cargo capacity by
over 18 percent and over 12 percent respectively," said Hu Yadong,
vice-minister of railways.

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