The train Z2 pulled by the Locomotive Mao Zedong arrived at the Beijing West Station at 8:16 AM on Aug. 6, 2019. The completion of the journey marked its 11 million kilometer milestone since the symbolic series of locomotives – named after the great Chinese leader – entered into service. It also set a new safety record of its kind. The distance travelled by generations of Mao Zedong locomotives is now equivalent to circumnavigating the earth 275 times.

The first Locomotive Mao Zedong entered into service on Oct. 30, 1946, when China was still besieged by war. The past 73 years saw the major expansion of Chinese railways and the modernization of Locomotive Mao Zedong itself, as its initial steam engines were upgraded to diesel motors and eventually to its current electric-powered engines.

The current HXD3D-1893 electric engine is the sixth locomotive named Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China, and its serial number 1893 matches Mao's birth year.

Initially a locomotive for freight trains, Locomotive Mao Zedong was reassigned to passenger service in July, 2014. In May 2016, the locomotive started pulling the Z1/2 train that travels between Beijing and Changsha, capital city of Mao's home province Hunan. 

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