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Yesterday, China's newest high-speed rail line opened for service. The 1,400-mile Beijing-to-Guangzhou line spans more than half the country and is the longest high-speed rail line in the world, according to Chinese news wire Xinhua.

Trains run at an average speed of 300 kph, cutting the travel time between the two cities from more than 20 hours to about eight hours. A total of 155 train pairs will operate on the new line daily.

The corridor is one of four north-south lines expected to serve as a backbone for the country's high-speed rail network, which also features four east-west lines. By 2015, the country is expected to have about 18,000 kilometers of high-speed rail lines in operation, as well as a 40,000-kilometer express railway network that accommodates trains operating at speeds of about 160 kph.

Work is now under way on a new high-speed line linking the central Chinese cities of Zhengzhou and Xuzhou. The line will intersect the Beijing-Guangzhou corridor, as well as the Beijing-Shanghai line, which opened in June 2011.