The "Blue Arrow" high-speed passenger train, powered by an alternating current locomotive, was put into commercial operation Monday, becoming the first passenger train to travel at 200 km per hour in China.

The train, which operates on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway, is composed of a locomotive engine and six trail cars, with 422 passenger seats.

Currently, it takes 60 minutes for the train to travel from Guangzhou to Shenzhen, but it will take only 55 minutes to complete the trip from March 1, when the new operation timetable is adopted by the Chinese railways.

The locomotive was jointly manufactured by five local locomotive builders. The highest speed of the locomotive, reached during a test run, is 235 km per hour.

In future, there will be shuttle trains, operating at 15-minute intervals, between Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and Shenzhen, the country's first special economic zone.

(Xinhua 01/09/2001)