China’s army of bullet trains traversing the nation’s sprawling high-speed railways has long been a source of national pride considering the fact that the nation only started to lay the tracks of its first modern high-speed rail link serving Beijing and Tianjin in 2004.
The speed with which China has knitted a nationwide high-speed network linking far-flung places across large swaths of its territory and boosted total length to 22,000 kilometers, second to none worldwide, in less than 15 years is also awe-striking. By 2025 China will add another 16,000 km of new lines to the system, according to China Railway Corp.
Only trains that can cruise at no less than 250km/h are categorized as high-speed trains in China, compared with the 150km/h threshold in the United States and some European nations.
China also claims that its trains galloping on ballastless tracks can put the aging rolling stocks pounding slowly across many developed nations to shame. The nation’s new generation of ultra modern, indigenous bullet trains, christened Fuxin – rejuvenation in Mandarin – can also give Japan’s renowned Shinkansen a good run for its money.
A standard Fuxing is 209 meters long, 3.36 meters wide and more than 4 meters high with an axleload of less than 17 tonnes and a seating capacity of 556 passengers.
The extended version measures 414.26 meters in length, comprising of 16 carriages and can speed along at 350 km/h. Here’re a few snapshots of the interior of the new trains.
let hear what those sour grape crybabies had to say
I sat in such a train about 8 years ago. The 120km journey from Hengshan to Changsha was completed in 20 minutes and cost only 70 yuan which was about U$12 then. It was QUIET unlike planes.