The Xiangtang-Putian Railway, China's First Express Railway Linking the West Coast of Taiwan Strait and the Hinterland, Opens to Traffic on Sept 26, 2013

Thousands of high-speed trains now travel across China every day, transporting more than 1.5 million passengers. They have shortened railway travel time by half. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The Xiangtang-Putian railway, China's first express railway linking the west coast of Taiwan Strait and the hinterland, opens to traffic on Sept 26, 2013

The Xiangtang-Putian railway opened to traffic on Sept 26, 2013.

Contracted by Chinese central SOEs such as China Railway Group Limited and China Railway Construction Corporation Limited, the railway was China's first express railway linking the west coast of the Taiwan Strait and the hinterland.

By then, the total length of the Chinese high-speed railway system exceeds 10,000 kilometers, which is 45 percent of the world's high-speed railway capacity and number one for length globally.

High-speed railways are a new strength in the country's transportation network.

(Executive editor: Zhang Tianyuan)