China’s newest high-speed train can hit 600 km/h

Like any railroad enthusiast, trains, locomotives, passenger trains in general, can be a little bit spectacular.

On Friday morning, the Chinese government debuted a new prototype designed to carry more than 500 passengers at a speed of 620 kilometers per hour (415 miles per hour). It’s the latest accomplishment in China’s plan to dramatically boost its network of intercity trains, which now comprise 20 percent of the world’s busiest railway system.

According to Xinhua, the train will run through the popular Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Whether the train will ever hit the tracks remains to be seen, but it certainly has the visual wow factor.

“The train is able to run high speeds with an environment-friendly combustion engine,” said Luo Shuxiang, director of the railways research unit at the Hebei Research Institute of Building Technology and Technology Research Institute, which designed the train. “The materials used in the train and engine are at least one generation ahead of those used in previous high-speed trains.”

The railway ministry also announced on Friday that three high-speed trains would start running between Beijing and the port city of Dalian by 2020. If the partnership between the Chinese government and the company China CNR Group continues, the rail system could see even more ambitious projects, including the building of a light-rail system at full capacity.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal.

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