New high-speed rail links Tianjin, Qinhuangdao

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A high-speed railway connecting Tianjin municipality and a port city in Hebei province started trial operations on Sunday.

The Tianjin-Qinhuangdao rail line has nine stops, five in Tianjin and four in Hebei province, the Beijing Railway Bureau said on Sunday.

The new 287-km line brings the total length of China's high-speed rail network to more than 10,000 km.

The bureau, which administrates the line, said the maximum speed of its trains is designed to be 350 km per hour but in the early stage of operations they will operate at 300 km/h.

The train travel time between Tianjin and Qinhuangdao will be shortened to one hour and 11minutes, almost half the previous time, the bureau said.

Construction of the rail line started in November 2008 and testing began last month. Local newspapers reported the railway is expected to attract more than 80 million passenger trips each year.

The bureau said the new railway will serve as a link to connect rail lines in Northeast China with the national high-speed railway network, as Qinhuangdao is a key city to enter Northeast China.

Tourists heading to Qinhuangdao, a popular coastal destination in the summer, from East and South China will have faster service thanks to the line, said Dong Yan, a researcher at the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation, under the National Development and Reform Commission.

"Tourists going from the southern part of the country to Qinhuangdao no longer need to take trains through Beijing," he said.

Liu Jinsong, a researcher at the Zhongjing Huicheng Institute of Urban-Rural Planning and Design, said the Tianjin-Qinhuangdao railway will also help integrate the economy of the Bohai Bay Economic Rim, which includes Beijing, Tianjin and areas in Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong provinces surrounding the Bohai Sea.

With the new line, China has 34 high-speed rail lines making up one-tenth of the country's total railway operation mileage, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Questions:

1. How many stops does the Tianjin-Qinhuangdao rail line have?

2. What is the maximum speed the train can travel?

3. When did construction of the new rail line begin?

Answers:

1. 9.

2. 350 km/per hour.

3. November 2008.

About the broadcaster:

Lance Crayon is a videographer and editor with China Daily. Since living in Beijing he has worked for China Radio International (CRI) and Global Times. Before moving to China he worked in the film industry in Los Angeles as a talent agent and producer. He has a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Arlington.