10-26-2010, 07:03 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: India
Posts: 80,566
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In pics: the world's fastest train
Speed devils
Two bullet trains glided silently out of a glossy new station to inaugurate China's latest high speed rail line, as officials boasted of setting world records using domestic technology.
Many, but not all, of the trains plying the new railway between Shanghai's western suburb of Hongqiao and Hangzhou will travel the 200 kilometers in 45 minutes, about half the time trains usually take to make the trip at their fastest speeds.
The China-made CRH380 train has been clocked at almost 420 kilometers per hour, a world speed record, though it will usually operate at a maximum speed of 350 kmph. China aims to have 13,000 kilometers of high speed rail in operation by 2012.
The efforts to develop China's own ultra high speed rail technology is a showcase project nearly on a par with the country's space program in terms of national pride and importance.
(Train attendants participate in the opening ceremony of a new high-speed railway linking Shanghai with Hangzhou Tuesday, October 26, 2010, in Shanghai.)
Railway officials recently announced they were working on technology to boost speeds to over 500 kmph.
One of the biggest high-speed rail lines under construction is a $ 32.5 billion, 1,318-kilometre Beijing-to-Shanghai high-speed railway that is scheduled to open in 2012. That line will halve the travel time between China's leading cities to five hours. (AP)
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