China has launched its first high-speed rail line that will travel across several bays and skim along the coast of the southeastern province of Fujian near the Taiwan Strait, state media reports.
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A bullet train departed from Fuzhou, the capital of east China's Fujian province on Thursday morning, setting up the opening of the 277km Fuzhou-Xiamen-Zhangzhou railway, Xinhua reported.
It is China's first cross-sea, rapid line with bullet trains that will travel over bridges across three coastal bays and hit top speeds of 350km/h, state media said, citing China State Railway Group Co Ltd, the country's railway operator.
Travel time between Fuzhou and Xiamen, an economic hub and popular tourist destination, will be less than an hour.
China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co Ltd designed the railway project.
By 2022, China had 42,000km of operational high-speed railway, and the length of high-speed rail regularly operating at 350km/h was almost 3200km as of June 2022.
China recently announced details of its plan to turn Fujian into a zone for integrated development with Taiwan, which sits opposite the province.
China is hoping the link will enhance investment opportunities and make travel easier.
A Chinese government official said an integrated multidimensional transportation network had been built in Fujian and would "make it technically possible to construct a high-speed transport passage linking the province with Taiwan", state media said.
China also unveiled its first commercial suspended monorail line in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, this week.
The monorail, covering 10.5km, is fully automated and only requires human operation in an emergency, China Daily reported.
Australian Associated Press
