Beijing-Guangzhou rail will be the longest high speed train route in the world when opening on December 26.
BEIJING- The world’s longest high-speed rail route from Beijing to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou will open on Dec. 26, the Ministry of Railways said Friday.
The 2,200-plus km new route will cut travel time between Beijing and Guangzhou from 22 hours to around eight. Running at an average speed of 300 km per hour, the 2,298-km Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway will cut travel time between the two cities to about 8 hours. Designed with a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, the railway has 35 stops in major cities, including Shijiazhuang, capital of north China’s Hebei Province, Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province and Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province.
Sun Zhang, an expert in rail transportation at Tongji University in Shanghai, said to the Global times newspapers that prices might remain to high to dent air traffic on this popular route.
“The price will be set according to the distance. However, the State Council on November 9 stipulated that the insurance fee, accounting for 2 percent of the ticket price, will be abolished next year, so it won’t be included in tickets now,” said Sun.
Although prices have not yet been released, based on the price of high-speed train tickets from Wuhan to Guangzhou, a journey of 1,069 kilometers which costs 465 yuan ($74.6) for a second-class ticket and 740 for first class, estimates of prices are 938 yuan for a second-class ticket from Beijing to Guangzhou, while a first- class ticket will be 1,493 yuan.
As at those prices, the price of a plane ticket for the three-hour flight could still be cheaper, it may mean that the route is not competitive at first.
“If passengers are unwilling to take the high-speed trains because of money, the Ministry of Railways will adjust their price according to the market response,” noted Sun.
From 2014, the line which connects with high speed tracks to Shenzhen out of Guangzhou will continue to Hong Kong, providing for the first time a direct train service at high speed between Beijing and China Special Administrative Region.
(Sources: Xinhua, Global Times)
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
