| Bullet trains to make debut this Sunday |
| Last Updated(Beijing Time):2007-01-24 11:22 |
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China's new bullet trains will make their debut runs between Shanghai and two nearby cities on Sunday, the Shanghai Railway Administration confirmed yesterday.
The trains won't begin traveling at top speeds until April, however.
Six new express trains recently pulled into Shanghai South Railway Station, rising questions about when they would make their debut.
After revealing that the new trains would be used during the busy Spring Festival period, the Shanghai Railway Administration finally confirmed yesterday that it has decided to start using the trains on Sunday.
They will travel on tracks between Shanghai and Nanjing in Jiangsu Province as well as Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Two of the eight-carriage trains will be linked together, creating trains capable of carrying 1,220 people at a time.
The carriages are divided into first and second class. The railway authority promised the air-conditioned trains have much nicer decorations and facilities than ordinary passenger trains.
The new bullet trains, called Dong He Du in Chinese, use multiple engine-powered carriages alongside non-power units in order to raise travel speeds.
Though the trains are able to travel between 200kph and 250kph, they will be restricted to 160kph, the speed limit for ordinary express trains, at present.
They will begin running at full speed after April 18 when the national rail network fulfills its sixth speed improvement.
The railway authority didn't elaborate on the ticket prices for the new trains yesterday, but said they would not be considerably higher than that for high-class express trains. |
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