New longer Fuxing bullet train to start operation in July

BEIJING - Three new longer Fuxing bullet trains will start to run on the Beijing-Shanghai line on July 1, China Railway Beijing Group Co Ltd said Friday.

With a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the new train measures more than 400 meters in length and has 16 carriages, twice as many as current ones, according to the bureau. It can carry nearly 1,200 passengers.

Internet, power supply, and tourist information systems have all been upgraded on the new trains, said Zhang Bo, a researcher at the China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited.

The longer trains began testing in Beijing in June.

Entirely designed and manufactured in China, the Fuxing, or Rejuvenation, trains are more spacious and energy-efficient, with a longer service life and better reliability than previous models.

Over the past decade, China has rapidly developed its high-speed railways. The country currently has the world's longest high-speed rail network, about one-third of which has been designed to run at a speed of 350 km per hour.