Dec 26 - China opens longest high-speed rail line

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- China, marching ahead with its high-speed rail program, Wednesday opened the world's longest high-speed rail line, linking Beijing and Guangzhou.

The 2,298-kilometer-long (1,428-mile-long) line between the Chinese capital and the country's major commercial center in the south, formerly called Canton, spans more than half of the country and cements the country's high-speed railway development ambitions, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The agency report was accompanied by spectacular color photographs of the gleaming, luxury trains running on the line. Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province and is just north of Hong Kong.

The news agency said two trains departed from stations in Beijing and Guangzhou in the morning, traveling at average speeds of 186 miles per hour (300 kilometers per hour), to mark the opening of the line, which will have 35 stops in major cities and eventually will serve 155 trains daily.

Trains will cover the distance in about 8 hours, down from the previous 20 hours, Xinhua said.

"The opening of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed line shows that China's high-speed railway network has started to take shape," said Zhou Li, director general of science and technology at the Ministry of Railways.

Xinhua said with the opening of the new line, China will have more than 9,300 kilometer (5,778 miles) of high-speed rails in operation. The target is to have four east-west lines and four north-south lines with total operating lines of more than 120,000 kilometers (74,565 mils) by 2020, Xinhua said.

Another major north-south route connecting Beijing and Shanghai opened in June 2011.

The high-speed rail effort sustained a huge set back in July 2011 when an accident k!lled 40 people, raising doubts about its safety and exorbitant cost, and resulting in the program's slowdown. The program has since picked up following a comprehensive safety review. Train speeds, however, have been reduced from 350 kilometers per hour (217.5 mph) to 300 kilometers.

Officials said many suspended projects have resumed construction. The Ministry of Railways has been allotted $96 billion for next year's rail infrastructure.

"High-speed rail construction needs government funding. The loans the ministry borrowed have accumulated to nearly 4 trillion yuan [$641.63 billion] so far, and each year the ministry needs to pay 80 billion yuan [$12.83 billion] in interest," one official said.



Read more: China's 1,428-mile-long rail line will connect Beijing and Guangzhou - UPI.com

What happened to the high speed rail funds that passed with tarp?

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this is why these folks have such a great economy. workers can live is the most rural of areas and get to work in the city on time.

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imagine if they had !! like that in this country, niccas could live in NYC and work in Pittsburgh

or live in Miami and work in ATL

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One reason we haven't had high speed rails is similar to one of the many reasons we haven't had a new nuclear power plant in a while. Everyone wants the benefits, however no one wants to deal with the construction or disturbance in their back yard

Last I remember hearing of their high speed rail, it crashed and k!lled hella people and they tried to bury the trains and bodies.

i think it also has alot to do with the auto and airline industries in this country. the reason we downsized our railways was because of the auto, oil and tire industry in the first place. its not in their best interest to promote efficient mass public transportation on a national scale

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This, and combined with some states completely own and manage their own mass transit systems, which means a state like MD will compete with it self on the opposites sides.

Its crazy how certain industries are locked to outsiders preventing change that could be healthy for the entire population.

I don't know how we are going to compete going forward 2013+ with the likes of China, India, Brazil, and all the emerging African, and Asian counties. Someone PM me [pic]

honestly alot of these old rich mutha!!as gonna have to die before we can even START moving forward [pic]

Great they used my money to build that !!.

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MIND BLOWNN!!!!

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China learned from the germans and the french ...now they were able to build everything on their own
Thats how u takeover ,one less thing Europe can´t export to asia anymore

It´s really a money issue if the united states chooses not to invest ,there would be no profit before 15,20 years and nobody is willing to find money for a long term plan