China on 5
th Jan 2016 launched its longest bullet train, “Shangi-la of the World” from Kunming, capital of South West China's Yunnan province to Beijing.
It is expanding its high speed train network to about 20,000 km connecting almost all provinces. The train left Kunming on a 2,670 km trip to Beijing which takes about 13 hours.
The train highlights the internationally famous resort in Shangri-la in Yunnan. The name first appeared in British novelist James Hilton's “Lost Horizon”.
This line is also the longest east-west high speed railway in China. A longer rail line stretching north to south is the 2298 Beijing-Guangzhou line, starting operations from 2012.
A white paper, titled “Development of China’s Transport,” said China would increase the length of high-speed railways in service to 30,000 km from the present 20000 kms by 2020 linking more than 80% of its big cities.
China's High Speed Rail: Know More- China has built more than 20,000 km of high-speed rail lines.
- Mileage will be 45,000 km by 2030
- According to the government’s plan, the mileage will increase to 45,000 km by 2030.
- China has launched the Shanghai-Kunming line giving shape to the high speed rail grid connecting almost all provinces on the Chinese mainland.
- China is marketing its bullet train technology to many nations including India, competing with Japan.
- It aims to build a comprehensive transport system by 2020.
