China is set to add a key link in its expansive high-speed rail network, after a train crossed the 1,318 kilometres between Beijing and Shanghai in just five hours.
The train departed Monday morning carrying officials from the government, businessmen from the companies who built the rail line, and journalists. The trip took half the time it would have using conventional rail.
Hitting speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour, China's high-speed trains travel more than twice as fast as the fastest train in Canada.
The new line, which is due to launch June 30, is the latest addition to China's controversial high-speed rail network.
The communist government is building thousands of kilometres of track to link the China's distant regions -- a project that critics contend is too costly for a country where many still live in poverty.
The Beijing-Shanghai line cost US$32.5 billion according to the railway ministry, while the government plans to spend $106 billion on railway construction this year.
The faster trains are supposed to help ease traffic along China's congested rail system, freeing up room for freight. But a rail ministry kickback scandal earlier this year has raised questions about costs and safety, while high ticket prices have kept many customers away.
In April the government pledged to cut ticket prices for the high-speed rail service, which will range from $63 per ticket to $269 on the Beijing-Shanghai line.
After less than a decade of work, China now boasts a high-speed network longer than the rest of the world combined. By the end of 2010 the network reportedly included 8,358 kilometres of rail lines, while government plans call for a total of 13,000 km to be built by the end of this year, and 16,000 km by 2020.
Patrick Chovanec, an associate professor at Tsinghua University, said it's unclear what problems could arise from the multi-billion-dollar project because the rail lines are being rolled out so quickly.
"China is doing this all at once, and then waiting to see how it works out," he said.
The country's ultra-modern trains are designed and built by cheaper local labour, and the government's huge investment is making China a significant player in the global high-speed rail industry.
But Beijing also faces complaints that it is violating the spirit of licenses with foreign providers, by taking technology from French, German and Japanese companies that was supposed to be used only in China, and trying to export it in Latin America and the Middle East.
Despite those complaints, China hopes to sell its high-speed trains around the world in the coming years, including to Canada.
With a report from CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Ben O'Hara-Byrne and files from The Associated Press
