China's bullet trains bump speed, Beijing to Shanghai in 4.5 hours

The speed of China's new-generation bullet trains has increased significantly as of Thursday.

The "Fuxing" trains, running between Beijing and Shanghai, are now running at 350 km/h, cutting the travel time between the two cities to four and a half hours.

A "Fuxing" train, running between Beijing and Shanghai, gets ready to depart from Beijing South Railway Station, on September 21, 2017. [Photo: China Plus/Li Lin]

Staff members on the trains were given training ahead of the speed increase. Zhao Guang with the personnel training department at Beijing Railway Bureau said the training has gone well.

"We made a series of training materials designed to shorten emergency response times, improve efficiency and ensure safety. We have conducted pop tests this month to check the results of the training, and all of our staff have passed the tests," said Zhao. 

More than 700 maintenance personnel have been trained online and have also conducted actual operations since the beginning of the year.

The increase in speed comes as China is expecting a tourism boom for the upcoming National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays in early October.

More than 700 million trips are expected to be made from October 1st to 8th.