China launches Beijing-Shanghai bullet train

China recently tested a high speed bullet train on the Beijing-Shanghai route. On its inaugural run the train carried government officials including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, managers of companies such as China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Corp that built the train, and reporters. It covered a distance of 1,318km in about five hours at a speed of 300km/hr. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line was constructed at a cost of $32.5 billion. It passes through some of China’s most economically developed and heavily populated areas in seven provinces. The route will have 63 trains a day running at 300km/hr, and 27 slower trains at 250km/hr.

The Chinese Railway Ministry also plans to put in place elaborate safety measures such as daily inspection of trains and tracks, and an earthquake monitoring system. Other existing high speed rail lines in China are the Wuhan–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway – connecting the cities of Wuhan and Guangzhou, the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway and the Shanghai Maglev Train. The government has plans to expand the high speed rail network in the country to about 13,000km this year at an estimated cost of $106 billion. It plans to further expand this network to 16,000km by 2020.