All aboard for Beijing-Guangzhou railway

The high-speed rail route from Beijing to South China's Guangzhou will open on Dec 26, cutting the journey from 22 hours to around eight, the Ministry of Railways said on Friday.

It is the world's longest high-speed rail route, with a distance of 2,298 km, according to the ministry.

Stewardesses walk out of the railway station in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, Dec 14, 2012. The high-speed rail route from Beijing to South China's Guangzhou will open on Dec 26, cutting the journey from 22 hours to around eight, the Ministry of Railways said on Friday. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway is expected to alleviate the pressure of the travel peak during the upcoming Spring Festival, said the ministry.

The Wuhan-Guangzhou part of the route has been in operation since December 2009 and the Zhengzhou-Wuhan section opened on Sept 28 this year.

The designed speed of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail route is 350 km per hour, and the speed of the current operating section is about 300 km per hour, according to the ministry.

The Beijing-Zhengzhou section, the last part of the route, with a distance of 693 km, began trial operations on Nov 11.

The trial went smoothly with facilities functioning normally and the crew's emergency response capabilities enhanced, Wang Chunlei, a publicity official from Zhengzhou railway bureau, told China Daily on Friday.

The ticket price of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway remains unclear, but current prices on the Zhengzhou-Wuhan section show that the average cost per kilometer was 0.73 yuan (12 cents) for first-class and 0.46 yuan for second-class .

The Ministry of Railways released a new railway calendar on Thursday, with 15 more railway lines added, which is scheduled to be in use from Dec 21.

As one of the most important parts of China's high-speed railway network, the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway will enhance transportation capacity and balance economic development between different regions, according to the ministry.