China tied the
restive far-western region of Xinjiang closer to the rest of the country
Friday, opening a high-speed rail line between its capital Urumqi and
Lanzhou, in neighbouring Gansu, nearly 1,800 kilometres away.
A slick bullet train took off from Lanzhou West Railway Station at
10:49 am (0249 GMT), with female attendants in Uighur and other ethnic
costumes serving 622 passengers, live footage on state broadcaster China
Central Television (CCTV) showed. The line, the first high-speed railway in China's remote and poor northwest, stretches through the high-altitude Qilian mountain range, an ancient section of the Great Wall and five strong wind zones, slashing travel time between the two cities by half to less than 12 hours, CCTV said.
Another train left Urumqi for Lanzhou two minutes later, according to the report.
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