World's longest high-speed rail starts operation

（Xinhua）  08:08, December 27, 2012

Passengers board bullet train G80 to leave for Beijing, capital of China, from the Guangzhou South Railway Station in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Dec. 26, 2012.(Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

The world's longest high-speed rail route linking Beijing and Guangzhou started operation on Wednesday.

Running at an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour, the 2,298-kilometer new route will cut the travel time between Beijing and Guangzhou from more than 20 hours to around eight.