China has opened the world's longest high-speedrail line, which more than halves the time required to travel from thecountry's capital in the north to Guangzhou, an economic hub in southern China.
Wednesday's opening of the 2,298 kilometer (1,428 mile)-linewas 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 prestigeinvested 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 abullet train crash in the summer of 2011 killed 40 people. The former railwayminister, who spearheaded the bullet train's construction, and the ministry'schief engineer, were detained in an unrelated corruption investigation monthsbefore the crash.
Trains on the latest high-speed line will initially run at300 kph (186 mph) with a total travel time of about eight hours. Before, thefastest 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 newline every day, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Ministry ofRailways.
Rail is an essential part in China's transportation system,and the government plans to build a grid of high-speed railways with foureast-west lines and four north-south lines by 2020.
The opening of the new line brings the total distancecovered by China's high-speed railway system to more than 9,300 km (5,800miles) — about half its 2015 target of 18,000 km.