Builders of China’s fast-growing bullet train network conducted a test run of its showcase Beijing-to-Shanghai line on June 27 amid controversy over the prestige project’s high cost.
A train carrying government officials and managers of the companies that built the line and reporters left Beijing for the 1,318-km trip. It was due to take about five hours, or half the time of conventional rail.
The Communist government is building thousands of km of high-speed rail to link together China’s far-flung regions and show off its rising wealth and technological prowess.
The government announced in April the top speed of the fastest lines would be reduced from 350 kph (220 mph) to 300 kph (190 mph) and ticket prices would be cut.
Official plans call for the network to expand to 13,000 km of track this year and 16,000 km by 2020.
China’s trains are based on Japanese, French and German technology but its manufacturers are trying to sell to Latin America and the Middle East. That has prompted complaints Beijing is violating the spirit of licenses with foreign providers by reselling technology that was meant to be used only in China.
June 27 test run comes ahead of celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party on July 1.
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