By Justine Lopez

It’s now a whole lot faster to travel between Beijing and Shanghai. Starting today (Sep 21), the new Fuxing trains operating on the Beijing-Shanghai line will start running at speeds of 350km/h. Faster speeds mean that travel time will be cut down by 30 minutes, so the entire journey will only take four and a half hours instead of five. The same trains previously ran at speeds of 300km/h. 

A series of successful tests were conducted on the new Fuxing bullet trains earlier this year. In addition, over 700 staff and maintenance members were trained on how to handle the speed increase. 

"We made a series of training materials designed to shorten emergency response times, improve efficiency and ensure safety. We have conducted pop tests this month to check the results of the training, and all of our staff have passed the tests," said Zhao Guang, a member of the Beijing Railway Bureau.

The speed increase comes just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the number of domestic travelers skyrockets. It is currently estimated that over 700 million trips will be made during the holiday, from October 1 to 8. 

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