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The longest railway line the world opened Wednesday. The line joins China's capital Beijing the southern Chinese city Guangzhou. The line is 2,298 kilometers long and stretches half China. The first train left Beijing station 9 a.m. and arrived Guangzhou eight hours later. The super-fast train travels an average speed 300 kph and cuts the journey time 20 hours just eight. It stops 35 different cities along its route. A total 310 trains will run the two cities each day. A one-way ticket the journey costs US$138. China's government hopes the train will help the country's economy business people can now travel across the country a lot quicker.

Chinese media say the bullet train service started 26 December to commemorate the birth former Chinese leader Mao Zedong. The train is also a sign of China's plan to become the world's leader high-speed rail travel. It already has 8,600 km high-speed railway track, which is more than any other country the world. It plans to extend this 16,000 km 2015 and 50,000 km 2020. China Ministry Railways spokesman Zhou Li told reporters: "The opening the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed line shows China's high-speed railway network has started to take shape." A passenger who travelled the first train explained how proud she was the train, saying: "It's amazing China has developed so quickly".