China's first domestically produced train able to reach 350 kilometers per hour rolled off the production line on Friday.

The train, the latest model in the China Railway high-speed series, was produced in Tangshan City, Hebei Province by the China Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp.

After taking the train for a two-kilometer test run, Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun said it marked "a new, significant achievement in China's railway equipment modernization."

The eight-carriage train, with a streamlined body made of light aluminum alloy, can seat 557 passengers.

Three such trains will begin service on the new 120-kilometer Beijing-Tianjin route before the Olympics start in August, the manufacturer said.

They will cut the travel time from 80 minutes to 30 minutes. In all, 57 such trains are expected to be in operation by the end of 2009.

The train is based on the Siemens ICE 3. The manufacturer said it started to cooperate with the technical support provider in 2005 and then created its own platform based on the world-class technology.

China unveiled the first domestic 300kph train last December, becoming the fourth country -- after France, Germany and Japan -- that can produce such trains.

The Beijing-Tianjin railway is considered a trial line for the 1,318-kilometer Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, which will be completed in five years and run at between 300 and 350kph.

"China's railway service has long fallen short of demand," said Li Heping, a researcher at the China Academy of Railway Sciences. "There are two solutions -- building more railways and raising the train speed."

China had raised train speeds six times as of April 2007, and railways that allow a speed of more than 200kph has totaled 6,227 kilometers in length.

By 2020, the total length of such railways will reach 18,000 kilometers, and the express train services will cover 50,000 kilometers, benefiting 90 percent of China's population.

(Shanghai Daily/Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2008)