China: high-speed test train on first extreme-weather line

[John Ashworth]

China runs high-speed test train on first extreme-weather line

China has started trial runs of the world’s first high-speed railway line built to withstand extreme cold weather: as low as -39.9°C in winter and up to 40°C in summer.

Using a test train travelling at a top speed of 300km/h, the 921km trial from Dalian in Liaoning province to Harbin, capital city of Heilongiang, took three hours eight minutes, just over one-third of the nine-hour journey time on the conventional train...