The world's fastest underground train zipped through Guangzhou from 2 PM yesterday afternoon, heralding the start of a service that will reduce traffic jams in the crowded city.

Comprising three carriages, and worth more than 36 million yuan (US$4.5 million), it is the most advanced underground train on the mainland.

The train, running at 135 kilometers an hour, carries passengers from Panyu in southern Guangzhou to the city's international airport in Guangzhou's northeastern Huadu District within an hour.

"The operation of the Metro Line 3 will greatly ease Guangzhou's heavy traffic pressure and benefit more than 200,000 residents who are now living along the subway line," said Zhang Changjun, deputy chief engineer with Guangzhou Metro Corp.

The fastest metro train made its debut journey on Metro Line 3, which runs from the city's south to the north across the Pearl River. It has 142 seats and can allow for 675 passengers.

When it begins full operation, it will cover a course of more than 84 kilometers.

With advanced technologies and facilities, passengers can enjoy live broadcasts of TV programs.

Qiao Zhuanghua, a Guangzhou resident, said she had been waiting for the Metro Line 3 for years.

"It will take me only half an hour, from home (in suburban Panyu), to reach my office in Tianhe District," Qiao was quoted by the China Daily as saying.

Made by Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Corp in Central China's Hunan Province, each of the train cars are 2.8 meters wide and 19.98 meters long.

The extended part of Metro Line 2 from Pazhou to Wanshengwei also went into operation yesterday.

The Metro Line 1 and Line 2 operate at a speed of about 60 kilometers an hour.

The city's Metro Line 4 will start operation in the first half of 2006.

Guangzhou will build 229.6 kilometers of eight subway lines by the time it hosts the Asian Games in 2010.

(Shenzhen Daily December 27, 2005)