BEIJING, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- China says it is ready to make the world's fastest bullet train with speeds of 236 mph (380 kilometers mph) to run on the Beijing-Shanghai sector.
Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer at the Chinese railway ministry, said at that speed, the domestically developed train will be the fastest in the world and cut the time to cover the 819-mile distance between the two major Chinese cities to four hours from the current five hours, China Daily reported Monday.
He said the train will increase the competitive edge against airlines.
Currently, China's bullet trains used on the recently-opened Beijing-Tianjin railway run at about 217.5 mph, the report said.
"It is possible that we can start to manufacture 380 kph trains in two years' time, and put them into service on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway," Zhang said.
In recent years, China has imported bullet train technology from France, Japan and Canada. Germany's engineering giant Siemens has agreed to transfer a full set of technology for manufacturing faster trains, the report said.
