The body of the first Chinese designed and manufactured
high-speed train, with a possible speed equal to that of the famous
Japanese bullet train, has rolled off the production line,
according to the builder.
The train is the latest model in the country's China Railway
High-speed (CRH) Series. This domestically produced locomotive is
capable of traveling at 300 kilometers per hour.
Slower CRH series -- able to travel at 200 kilometers per hour
-- are already in service.
Instead of being driven by a single engine, high-speed trains
are equipped with multiple engines embedded inside separate
units.
"Completion of the body lays a solid foundation for the
scheduled debut of the whole train by the end of this year," a
senior official with CSR Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co.
Ltd. told Xinhua on Friday.
"The train body, made of aluminum alloy, weighs about seven tons
and it is the lightest of its kind in the world," said another
official who asked to remain anonymous. "The thinnest part only
measures 1.5 millimeters."
He also noted that production of other parts, such as engines,
were well underway.
The company will deliver ten such trains to the Ministry of
Railways in the first half of next year, according to the
company.
The trains, which can seat about 600 passengers, will run on the
115-km Beijing-Tianjin route before the Beijing Olympic Games in August 2008. They are
expected to reduce travel time from the current 80 minutes to
around 30 minutes.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2007)