China shows off world’s longest high-speed rail route
CHINA: China on Saturday showed off the final link of the world's
longest high-speed rail route set to begin whisking passengers from
Beijing to Guangzhou next week in a third of the time currently
required.
The much anticipated opening of high-speed passenger service from
Beijing to Guangzhou, a distance of 2,298 kilometres (1,425 miles) is
scheduled to begin Wednesday, officials said.
Travelling at an average speed of 300 kilometres per hour, the new
line will slash the time it takes to travel by rail from the capital to
the southern commercial hub from the current 22 hours to just eight.
Authorities took journalists for a ride Saturday on the section of
the route linking Beijing's West Station with the city of Zhengzhou 693
kilometres to the south, the route's last link.
Hitting speeds of over 300 kmh, the gleaming, tubular train sped past
frozen lakes and rivers as well as snow-covered farmland on the journey
of approximately two-and-a-half hours each way.
Though moving much faster than the country's conventional rolling
stock, the ride on the aerodynamic bullet train was smooth and made
little noise other than a low-level hum during most of the trip.
The reclining seats are laid out in rows of three and two separated
by an aisle, are upholstered in cloth and can be turned around so rows
faced each other.
Toilets on the train are of stainless steel squat variety, with
slightly more bathroom space than would usually be found on an airliner,
while uniformed women were on hand to serve drinks and snacks during the
trip.
“This is the world's longest bullet train track,” Zhou Li, a Ministry
of Railways official, told AFP, describing the Beijing-Guangzhou route.
“It's also one of the most technically advanced tracks in China and the
world.” The line will have 35 stops. Besides Zhengzhou, they will
include other major cities such as Wuhan and Changsha. Sections linking
Zhengzhou and Wuhan and Wuhan and Guangzhou are already in service.
China's high-speed rail network was only established in 2007, but has
quickly become the world's largest, with a total of 8,358 kilometres of
track at the end of 2010.
That is expected to almost double to 16,000 kilometres by 2020.
But the network has been plagued by graft and safety scandals
following the rapid expansion. A deadly bullet train collision in July
2011 killed 40 people and sparked a public outcry.
The accident -- China's worst rail disaster since 2008 -- triggered a
flood of criticism of the government and accusations that authorities
had compromised safety in its rush to expand.
AFP |
