China on Saturday (26th December 2009) unveiled what it billed as the fastest rail link in the world -- a train connecting the modern cities of GuangZhou and WuHan at an average speed of 350 kilometres (217 miles) an hour.
The super-high-speed train reduces the 1,069 kilometre journey to a three hour ride and cuts the previous journey time by more than seven and a half hours, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Work on the project began in 2005 as part of plans to expand a high-speed network aimed at eventually linking Guangzhou, a business hub in southern China near Hong Kong, with the capital Beijing, Xinhua added.
"The train can go 394.2 kilometres per hour (245 mph), it's the fastest train in operation in the world," Zhang Shuguang, head of the transport bureau at the railways ministry, told Xinhua.
Over the next few years, 42 new high speed lines will be opened, totalling 13,000km.
[video v=JrKRIIAMycc]
See how even a cigarette balanced on its end stays upright on this super-smooth ride (video): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8406910.stm
Report with large pictures : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1238496/Unveiled-Chinas-245mph-train-service-worlds-fastest--completed-just-FOUR-years.html
Also : http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091226/wl_asia_afp/chinatransportrail