Bullet train debut puts new rail era on track
By Zha Minjie |
July 2, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Sitting on the new bullet train along the Shanghai-Nanjing rail line, about 550 passengers watched the landscape and small towns moving fast behind them as the train sped up to 345 kilometers per hour - with only a little shaking.
G5000, the first high-speed train along the new line, arrived yesterday at Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province, 73 minutes after it left Shanghai's Honqqiao Railway Station at 8am.
"It's quite amazing," said Oliver Shand, a French tourist who boarded the train for the 300-kilometer-long ride.
And a cup of water in front of him did not spill a drop during the journey.
The 73-minute time is for the direct trip between the two cities. The trip will take longer for those trains that make several stops on the way.
It took about 10 minutes for the train to reach 300 kmp from zero as Shand watched the numbers rise on the speed display in the carriage.
What Shand probably didn't notice was that, near the newly laid rails, lay a rusty track from a line that had been there for a hundred years.
That's the old Shanghai-Nanjing rail line, built in 1908, one of the country's busiest railways, running through the booming Yangtze River Delta region. It is still in service after track replacements.
For now and in the future the new fast line will play an important part in carrying passengers.
The old line will be mainly used for cargo.
Wang Yongping, spokesman for the Ministry of Railway, said the new bullet trains are safer and more comfortable than the old trains but he "can not guarantee" that there will be no breakdowns soon after the line is put into use.
"It is expected to take about a year in our country to get the high-speed railway to pass the shakedown period," he said.
The shakedown period is three to five years for other countries, said Wang.
The first day did have a few glitches.
Tang Xiaodong, from Jiangsu Province's Wuxi City who had a plane to catch in Shanghai, was prevented by rail staff from boarding the train that was leaving a few minutes ahead of his scheduled train.
He finally persuaded them to let him onboard as the ticket clearly stated it was valid for 24 hours for any bullet train.
Passengers who tried their cell phones found the mobile signal on the train was unstable once the train sped up.
At the city's terminal for the new line, the brand new Hongqiao Railway Station, the day was busy - tens of thousands of passengers went to take the journey.
Local passengers found it was an easy trip from downtown, as Metro Line 2 directly connects to the railway station.
It only took the passengers two minutes to get off the subway and take an escalator to the security check area leading to the rail waiting lounge.
G5000, the first high-speed train along the new line, arrived yesterday at Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province, 73 minutes after it left Shanghai's Honqqiao Railway Station at 8am.
"It's quite amazing," said Oliver Shand, a French tourist who boarded the train for the 300-kilometer-long ride.
And a cup of water in front of him did not spill a drop during the journey.
The 73-minute time is for the direct trip between the two cities. The trip will take longer for those trains that make several stops on the way.
It took about 10 minutes for the train to reach 300 kmp from zero as Shand watched the numbers rise on the speed display in the carriage.
What Shand probably didn't notice was that, near the newly laid rails, lay a rusty track from a line that had been there for a hundred years.
That's the old Shanghai-Nanjing rail line, built in 1908, one of the country's busiest railways, running through the booming Yangtze River Delta region. It is still in service after track replacements.
For now and in the future the new fast line will play an important part in carrying passengers.
The old line will be mainly used for cargo.
Wang Yongping, spokesman for the Ministry of Railway, said the new bullet trains are safer and more comfortable than the old trains but he "can not guarantee" that there will be no breakdowns soon after the line is put into use.
"It is expected to take about a year in our country to get the high-speed railway to pass the shakedown period," he said.
The shakedown period is three to five years for other countries, said Wang.
The first day did have a few glitches.
Tang Xiaodong, from Jiangsu Province's Wuxi City who had a plane to catch in Shanghai, was prevented by rail staff from boarding the train that was leaving a few minutes ahead of his scheduled train.
He finally persuaded them to let him onboard as the ticket clearly stated it was valid for 24 hours for any bullet train.
Passengers who tried their cell phones found the mobile signal on the train was unstable once the train sped up.
At the city's terminal for the new line, the brand new Hongqiao Railway Station, the day was busy - tens of thousands of passengers went to take the journey.
Local passengers found it was an easy trip from downtown, as Metro Line 2 directly connects to the railway station.
It only took the passengers two minutes to get off the subway and take an escalator to the security check area leading to the rail waiting lounge.
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