China completes world's longest bullet train tracks

BEIJING: China's high-speed railway which is making a big pitch to compete in India and global markets has completed over 20,000 kms of track network in the country, becoming world's longest bullet train network.

A high-speed railway linking Zhengzhou in China's central Henan Province with Xuzhou in eastern Jiangsu Province opened today.

With the operation of the new line, China's high-speed railway lines have exceeded 20,000 kmS in total length, the world's longest.

The 360-km line connects high-speed railway in the west with two major north-south lines, helping cut travel time between the west and east.

The travel time between Xi'an and Shanghai is cut to six hours from nearly 11 hours. The line has nine stations and trains run at a speed of up to 300 kph in the initial period.

Construction of the line started in December 2012 and test operation started in April 2016.

China is competing with Japan to market the bullet train network in India and various other countries.

While Japan bagged the contract to build Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed train, China is conducting feasibility study to build the bullet train track between Chennai and New Delhi.