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Jinan-Yantai EMU trains on track for next year
By Wang Qian (China Daily Shandong Bureau)
Updated: 2009-08-17 15:34

The Lancun-Yantai railway is scheduled to be completed and in service by the end of this year, making it possible to run high-speed bullet trains between Jinan and Yantai by 2010.

The railway was initiated in December, providing an important transportation link between Jinan and Yantai. After completion of the project, the railway will fulfill the basic requirement to run CRH trains capable of speeds of 200 kilometers per hour.

Yantai’s huge passenger flow makes it necessary to run CRH trains, according to a representative surnamed Liang with the railway office of the Yantai Development Planning Commission. It currently takes seven hours to Jinan and 14 hours to Beijing by train, Liang said, adding the time will be shortened to four and eight hours when CRH trains go into operation.

The Jinan Railway Bureau has applied to the Ministry of Railway to run CRH trains to and from Yantai. If the application is approved, trains will be in service as early as next April.