World's fastest trains: China to launch new, 400 km/h trains on Beijing to Shanghai route

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This was published 6 years ago

World's fastest trains: China to launch new, 400 km/h trains on Beijing to Shanghai route

Updated
China's next-generation bullet train, the Fuxing, will run on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway from September 21.

China's next-generation bullet train, the Fuxing, will run on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway from September 21.Credit: AP

After cutting back the speed of the Beijing to Shanghai bullet train following a deadly crash, China is set to again make it one of the world's fastest.

New generation trains will service the route starting next month, making the 1250-kilometre journey from the capital to Shanghai in just 4 hours, 30 minutes.

The latest trains were unveiled in June and have a top speed of 400 kilometres per hour, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

A train driver prepares to operate the Fuxing bullet train.

A train driver prepares to operate the Fuxing bullet train.Credit: AP

China first ran trains at 350 kilometres per hour in August 2008, but cut speeds back to 250-300 kilometres per hour in 2011 following a two-train collision near the city of Wenzhou that killed 40 people and injured 191.

China has laid more than 20,000 kilometres of high-speed rail, with a target of adding another 10,000 kilometres by 2020.

China has spent an estimated $US360 billion ($A454 billion) on high-speed rail, building by far the largest network in the world.

The Fuxing bullet train will have a top speed of 400 km/h.

The Fuxing bullet train will have a top speed of 400 km/h.Credit: AP

The fastest train in the world is Shanghai's MagLev airport train, though its route was built only as a demonstration for the magnetic levitation ('MagLev') technology.

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The train can reach a top speed of 431 kilometres per hour, but reaches that speed for just a few seconds on its seven-minute journey between Shanghai's Pudong district and the city's international airport.

AP

See also: 400 km/h and counting - on board the world's fastest train

See also: The world's most beautiful country to see by train

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