Prototypes of China’s next-generation CR450 bullet train have completed a 600,000-kilometer operational test, reports Caixin. The move brings the world’s fastest train a step closer to commercial service.
Two prototypes—the CR450AF and CR450BF manufactured by CRRC—have completed the 600,000-kilometer operational test, a local railway bureau official told Caixin. On August 5, state-owned operator China State Railway said that the trains had finished tests on a section of the Chongqing-Xiamen high-speed railway and would complete the remaining testing mileage on the Xiong’an-Shangqiu high-speed railway. The prototypes have yet to undergo a maximum-speed test, according to the local railway bureau source.
The milestone clears the way for final inspection and certification of the train, which is designed to operate at around 400 kilometers per hour (kph) and could eventually shift the competitive landscape between rail and air travel on major domestic routes.