京滬高鐵提速(jīnghù gāotiě tísù): Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail speeds up

On July 27, the railway authorities completed testing the maximum speed of the country's new bullet trains, which are designed to reach speeds of 350 kilometers per hour.

Fourteen of the bullet trains are to start running at that speed on the 1,318 kilometer line between Beijing and Shanghai, which will reduce the travel time between the two cities to four and half hours. By that time the new bullet trains will be the world's fastest commercial trains.

China Railway Corporation told the media that the higher speed of the new bullet trains will better satisfy the public's demand for transportation and will promote regional economic development.

China has established the world's largest high-speed railway network. And the move indicates that China's high-speed rail will once again operate at 350 kilometers per hour after its maximum speed was reduced to about 300 kilometers per hour for safety reasons in August 2011.