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Hi-speed train on trial
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Yang Yang
CHINA'S first electric high-speed passenger train was officially put into trial operation in Shenzhen yesterday morning.
The train, named “Lanjian" or “Blue Arrow", was jointly developed and produced by the Changchun Passenger Car Factory, Zhuzhou Electric Car Factory and Guangshen Railway Company Limited.
With an operating speed of 160 kilometres per hour, the “Lanjian" train runs between Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
An officer from Guangshen Railway Company Limited, which operates the rail line between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, said that the “Lanjian" train will travel faster than 200 kilometres per hour after the trial operation ends on January 8 next year.
Passengers travelling between Shenzhen and Guangzhou are not expected to experience a significant difference in travel time between Shenzhen and Guangzhou as the new train takes 50 minutes to make the trip, only slightly faster than current trains.
The Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway became the first railroad in China to operate three parallel tracks in 1994 and Guangshen Railway Company Limited initiated high-speed passenger service on the tracks with passenger trains running at speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour.
In August 1998, Guangshen Railway Company Limited, China's first railway operator with shares listed on overseas stock markets, started operating the “New Speed" train, hired from Sweden, on its tracks after electrifying the line.
The “New Speed" is a high-speed electric train designed with tilting technology. It runs at a speed of 200 kilometres per hour.
In October 1999, the first high-speed electric train manufactured by Chinese factories was tested on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway.
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