Developers of China's high-speed train system conducted a test run of the showcase Beijing-to-Shanghai route Monday.
A train set out from Beijing for the 1,318-kilometer trip carrying government officials, reporters and executives of the companies that are building the line. The new service takes five hours to make the trip, half as long as a conventional train.
The communist government is building thousands of kilometers of high-speed rail lines to link together the massive country.
But critics say the multi-billion-dollar plan is too expensive for a country where millions of people live in poverty, and that the lines are being built primarily to boost Beijing's prestige.