China-made bullet train to link Beijing and Tianjin -- china.org.cn

The first Chinese-made bullet train has completed a test run, and will begin service between Beijing and Tianjin in August.

The first bullet train designed and manufactured in China with a speed of 300 kilometers per hour rolled off production line on Dec. 21, 2007. (Xinhua Photo)

The first bullet train designed and manufactured in China with
a speed of 300 kilometers per hour rolled off production line
on Dec. 21, 2007. (Xinhua Photo)

The new train is designed to run at 300 kilometers an hour and will link the two cities starting August the 1st, a week before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

It will cut travel time between Beijing and Tianjin to around 30 minutes less than half the current travel time of 70 to 80 minutes.

In the meantime, sources say the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Railways are looking closely at plans for a 350-kilometer-an-hour train to run between Beijing and Shanghai.

That high-speed link has been in talks for years. Currently, China's fastest home-made trains run up to just 250 kilometers an hour.

Those trains, which debuted last April, link Beijing with Harbin, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

(CCTV March 10, 2008)