China’s new Minister of Railways has said that the high speed services will run at a slower speed to reduce costs for travellers, a national news agency has claimed.
Sheng Guangzu took on the role on 25 February replacing former disgraced railways minister Liu Zhijun, said high speed trains ‘will run at 300km/h starting from 1 July, instead of the previously announced 350km/h.’
There are also reports that the slowing down of the high speed trains is due to safety concerns.
Sheng reportedly said that ‘only the four east-west and four north-south artery lines of the high-speed rail network will carry trains at 300km/h.’
However, construction works on rail lines will not slow down. Sheng said ‘work between 2011 and 2015 will be rolled out fast across the country, with an investment of 2.8 trillion yuan ($428 billion) allocated for it.’
There was however, a hint that focus will be put on the maintenance of current lines instead of creating new ones.
