China tests 500 km per hour high-speed rail

China is now researching and developing a new high-speed train with a speed of 500 kilometers per hour and is testing on particular test rails to obtain key data to promote the further development of the high speed rail technology.

Cao Gangcai, chief of the Publicity Department of the China Southern Rail Corporation Limited (CSR), announced this on Dec. 6.

Earlier on Dec. 3 of last Friday, the train CRH380A, which was researched and developed by the CSR, hit a record high in the world with a speed of 486.1 kilometers per hour on the tracks between Zaozhuang City of Shandong Province and Bengbu City in eastern Anhui Province, which form a segment of the world's longest high-speed rail line linking Beijing and Shanghai.

Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer of the Chinese Ministry of Railways, said earlier that the department will pilot CRH trains with a speed of 500 kilometers per hour in Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail test sections in March of 2011.

By Li Mu, People's Daily Online