Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway Put Into Operation

A stewardess wait to serve passengers in high-speed train G502 at the Changsha South Railway Station in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province, Dec. 26, 2012. The Changsha South Railway Station is one of the stops of the 2,298-kilometer Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway, the world’s longest, which was put into operation on Wednesday. Running at an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour, the high-speed railway will cut the travel time to about 8 hours from the current 20-odd hours by traditional lines between the country’s capital and capital of south China’s Guangdong Province.

Passengers sit in high-speed train G502 at the Changsha South Railway Station in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province, Dec. 26, 2012. <Xinhu/Li Ga>