China's "bullet train", the nation's fastest train, is scheduled for testing in Shanghai next month for the Lunar New Year holiday, the busiest travel season of the year, according to the Shanghai Media Group (SMG).

With CRH (China Railway High speed) on its locomotive and a maximum speed of 250 kmh (155 mph), the train could cut rail travel times from Shanghai to Beijing from 12 to 10 hours, the SMG said.

Six bullet trains will be put into the trial operation next month on the Shanghai-Hanzhou and Shanghai-Nanjing routes, and more will be used on lines across China, according to the SMG.

The train is designed with eight carriages and a capacity of more than 610 passengers. They were built on Japan's Shinkansen bullet train technology by Qingdao-based Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co., Ltd under China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock (CSR).

The country's railway system is expected to carry more than 150 million passengers around the Lunar New Year's Day, which falls on Feb. 18 this year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2007)