DO you know how long it would take you to go from Beijing to London?It takes about 10 hours by airplane.How about going by train?It takes more than a week.And you have to stop a few times along the way to exchange trains.
Now,China is planning to build an international high-speed railway network.One railway would carry passengers from London to Beijing and then to Singapore.The railway would also run to India.A second railway would take trains north through Russia to Germany.And a third line will go south to Vietnam,Thailand,and many other countries.
Officials at the China Ministry of Raiways say the railway network will run to 17countries.Trains will be able to run at over 320Km per hour.But they also say they are only starting to talk to those countries about the plan,and it will take at least ten years to finish the network.
If the great plan comes true,passengers would be able to get on a train in London and get off in Beijing in 48 hours.They could go on to Singapore in three days.
And they could go from Beijing to Berlin in Germany without exchanging trains.
The railway network will inprove foreign trade between China and those countries.It will also make China's high-speed railway technology know to the world.