On display in Shanghai on June 6 was the new SS9 electric passenger train, built by the CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co. Ltd., which will soon be operating on the Beijing-Shanghai line.

The new SS9 model was independently developed by the CSR Zhuzhou team. It's the highest powered train of this type operating in China. An integration of several advanced technologies, the train is capable of traveling at a speed of 170 kilometers per hour.

China is working on the electrification of the 1,453 kilometer long Beijing-Shanghai railway which passes through Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui. The railway connects the Bohai-rim region with the Yangtze River Delta. Currently it's the busiest line in China.

The Ministry of Railways is making efforts to increase the speed of trains across the country. The target for Beijing-Shanghai line is the 170 kilometers per hour figure.

According to CSR Zhuzhou, 55 of the SS9 electric locomotives will be produced and dispatched to Beijing, Shanghai, Jinan, Guangzhou, Shenyang and Nanchang railway bureaus.

(China.org.cn by Wu Nanlan, June 15, 2006)