Britain may go in for China’s high-speed bullet trains
By IANSThursday, February 17, 2011
BEIJING - Britain may either rent or buy high-speed bullet trains manufactured by a Chinese firm, an official said.
The high-speed bullet trains are produced by the CSR Corporation, China Daily Thursday quoted the 21st Century Business Herald as reporting.
Gao Hucheng, China’s international trade representative, said British Prime Minister David Cameron has showed willingness to cooperate with China in Britain’s infrastructure construction and high-speed railway construction.
The media report said that CSR will lend a batch of train equipment to Britain for their high-speed railway reconstruction. Thereafter, a joint venture may be established when the cooperation is further strengthened.
This is the first time that China’s high-speed rail technology will enter the British market.
Britain plans to develop high-speed railways in the country over the next 15 years and promote high-speed bullet trains with a highest speed of 362 kph, the daily said.
China last year produced a high-speed train that set a world speed record during a trial run.
The train hit a maximum speed of 416.6 km per hour on its journey between Shanghai and Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province.
The train is designed to run at a speed of 350 km per hour on the 202-km-long track between the two cities. A one-way journey previously took two hours. But the new train would lessen that to around 40 minutes.
