China operationalises world's longest bullet train line

China in the last week of December 2016 commenced operations of Shanghai-Kunming line, one of the world's longest high-speed railways.

The link joins the prosperous eastern coast to the less-developed southwestern part of the country.

The launch of the Shanghai-Kunming line signifies that China’s high-speed rail grid has taken shape and connects almost all provinces on the Chinese mainland.

The line is a part of the China Railway High-speed’s system of high-speed rail corridors, beginning in Shanghai and ending in Kunming.

About the Shanghai-Kunming line

• The Shanghai-Kunming line is 2252 km in length.

• The line is also the longest east-west high-speed railway in China.

• It passes through five provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan.

• It cuts travel time from Shanghai to Kunming from 34 hours to 11 hours.

• The maximum speed of the train is 330 km per hour.

About China Railway High-speed

• The China Railway High-speed (CRH) is the high-speed rail service operated by China Railway.

• Hexie Hao is the designation for rolling stock operated for the service.

• CRH’s introduction was a major part of the sixth national railway speedup.

• It was implemented on 18 April 2007.

• Every high-speed train in commercial use in China is named CRH.

• CRH1/2A/2B/2E/5 are expected to have a maximum speed of 250 km/h. CRH2C/3 have a maximum speed of 350 km/h.

• The new trainsets CRH380A have a maximum test speed of 416.6 km/h.

• CRH380BL, the fastest trainset, attained a maximum test speed of 487.3 km/h.