China tests new bullet train that can travel at 500 km/h

China has successfully tested a train that can develop the speed of up to 500 kilometers per hour, RIA Novosti report with reference to local media. The tests of the new high-speed locomotive took place on Sunday at the base in Qingdao city.

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Currently, China uses CRH 380 train models in the network of national high-speed railways. The trains travel at the speed of 250-300 kilometers per hour.

The new train is not going to travel at 500 kilometers per hour in commercial operation. The Chinese bullet train will limit the speed to 350-380 kilometers per hour. 

Officials with the company that produced the new train said that safety was their first priority during the creation of the new locomotive.

In August 2011, China's State Council ordered all high-speed trains should cut their speed by 40-50 km/h. This regulation was connected with the first-ever catastrophe with high-speed trains in China, which took place near the city of Wenzhou (Zhejiang province) on 23 July. Forty people were killed and nearly 200 were wounded in the collision of two high-speed trains. According to preliminary investigation, the main cause of the accident was the incorrect operation of the signal system. The system did not react properly after one of the trains stopped because of a lightning strike.

The disaster caused a wave of security checks for high-speed railways equipment. One of the models of high-speed trains was withdrawn from production as a result of the checks.