China’s regular trains are getting faster. The country now has the world’s fastest scheduled bullet trains. The trains connect Shanghai and Hangzhou, two of the country’s industrial hubs, at an average speed of 350 kph. The high-speed trains cover the 200-kilometer distance in only 45 minutes. Previously it took 78 minutes.
And further records will be broken. This locally built CRH380 bullet train has been recorded traveling at 420 kph, a world record. For the time being it will keep to the lower figure of 350 kph.
China‘s high-speed rail network now stretches over 7,431 kilometers and the government plans to expand the network to over 16,000 kilometers by 2020, The Hindu reported. The first line, connecting Beijing with the port city of Tianjin, opened in 2008.