Train driver treated to Fuxing bullet train simulation for 100th birthday

For his 100th birthday, Ren Zhongde, who was one of the first generation of train drivers in China, was treated to a ride in a simulation cockpit of a Fuxing bullet train, making his birthday dream come true.

Photo shows Ren Zhongde trying out a simulation cockpit of a Fuxing bullet train. (Photo/China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.)

Looking straight ahead and pulling the control handle and wearing a uniform, Ren was excited to “drive” the Fuxing bullet train, an experience he never had when he was a train driver between 1951 and 1980.

He also boarded the G1504 bullet train on March 25, which runs from Nanning East Railway Station in Nanning, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to Nanjing South Railway Station in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu province.

Photo shows Ren Zhongde (R) on the G1504 bullet train. (Photo/China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.)

Ren was curious and excited about what he saw on the train. “In the past, it took me more than three days and nights to drive a steam train from Liuzhou city to Guilin city (both in Guangxi), while the same trip today takes just over one hour by high-speed rail,” Ren said.

Photo shows the five generations of train drivers spanning 66 years, with Ren Zhongde, 100 years old, at the center. (Photo/China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.)

The elderly man was accompanied by four other train drivers aged between 34 and 81.

The five generations of train drivers spanning 66 years have witnessed China’s railway development -- from steam trains, diesel trains and electric trains to CRH (China Railway High-speed) trains and Fuxing bullet trains, over the years.

(Photo/China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.)

(Photo/China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.)

Ren became a train driver in 1951 during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, driving trains loaded with materials to the battlefield. In 1952, he returned to the motherland from the frontline due to injuries. About half a year later, he took up his old trade again. In 1980, he retired as a veteran train driver, but his passion for driving trains has never faded.

(Photo/China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.)