Glitches still to be ironed out for world's longest high-speed railway

With just days to go before the first passengers climb aboard the world's longest high-speed railway, the operators of the new Beijing-Guangzhou line were scrambling to work out last-minute glitches.

A train carrying journalists between Beijing and the Henan provincial capital, Zhengzhou, yesterday was delayed for more than 20 minutes by technical problems. It arrived in Zhengzhou after noon, more than 30 minutes behind schedule.

Zhao Chunlei, the Railway Ministry's director of traffic control, shrugged off the delays, saying he expected most of the bugs to be fixed before the 3,200-kilometre railway officially opens on Wednesday.

"We have encountered many problems during the test run period; some remain to be solved," Zhao said. "The more issues that trouble us now, the less they will trouble passengers during formal operations."

Zhao would not say what percentage of trains had arrived on time during the trial period, but he said the ministry was aiming for an on-time performance of no less than 95 per cent after the official launch.

Once fully operational, the new link between the mainland's political centre and the southern metropolis of Guangzhou is expected to provide major competition to the country's airline industry, especially on short- and medium-haul routes.

The line - which will replace the Beijing-Shanghai railway as the world's longest high-speed line - will pass through six provinces with a combined population of more than 600 million. The ministry says passengers will be able to travel its entire length in under eight hours.