China launches world's longest bullet train service

China launched service Wednesday on the world’s longest high-speed rail route, the latest milestone in the country’s rapid and — sometimes troubled — super fast rail network.

The opening of the new 2,298-kilometre (1,425-mile) line between Beijing and Guangzhou means passengers will be whisked from the capital to the southern commercial hub in just eight hours, compared with the 22 hours previously required.

China Central Television broadcast the 9:00 am (0100 GMT) departure of the first train live from Beijing West Railway Station. It also carried live reports inside the train showing passengers toting cameras to apparently snap commemorative photos.

Another train departed Guangzhou for the capital at 10:00 am, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Trains will travel at an average speed of 300 kilometres per hour over the line, which includes 35 stops in major cities such as Zhengzhou, Wuhan on the Yangtze River and Changsha.

State media have reported that December 26 was chosen to start passenger service on the Beijing-Guangzhou line to commemorate the birth in 1893 of revered Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

The Beijing-Guangzhou route was made possible with the completion of a line between Zhengzhou and Beijing. High-speed sections linking Zhengzhou and Wuhan and Wuhan and Guangzhou were already in service.

China’s high-speed rail network was established in 2007, but has fast become the world’s largest. Xinhua said that China now operates 9,300 kilometres of high-speed railways.

The state-run China Daily newspaper reported Wednesday that the nation’s high-speed rail network is set to jump to 50,000 kilometres by 2020, with four main lines running north and south and another four east and west.