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The Harmony Express powered across 1068 kilometers (683 miles) from Wuhan to Guangzhou in less than three hours. Earlier, the same Wuhan-Guangzhou travel would take 11 hours. China has firmly put its stamp of high-tech rail travel on the global arena with the launch of the Harmony Express. Guangzhou is the capital of the Southern Guangdong province, while Wuhan is a city in central China.
harmony express photo

Photo: Harmony Express is the fastest bullet train in the world

We have compiled some photos, pictures and videos for you. Check out the Harmony Express (Hexie Hao) superfast bullet train in all its glory!
hexie hao photo

Photo: Hexie Hao, Chinese for Harmony Express

The top speed achieved by the Hexie Hao — the Chinese name for Harmony Express — is truly breathtaking. The Hexie Hao trains are manufactured by Germany’s Siemens, Brazil’s Bombardier and France’s Alstom. In Japan, the top speed achieved by Shinkansen bullet trains, manufactured by Kawasaki, is 300 kmph. France’s TGV also runs its bullet trains at a top speed of 300 kmph. At a maximum actual speed of 350 kmph and test speed of 394 kmph, the Harmony Express is way ahead of both.

Sticking to its well-tested traits of Chinese discipline, the Harmony Express started from Wuhan at 9.00 AM and reached Guangzhou in precisely three and a half hours. At exactly the same time, 9.00 AM, another Harmony Express started from Guangzhou and reached Wuhan on time.
hexie hao harmony express

A television visual aired by Wuhan TV showed Hexie Hao passengers, most of them tourists who flocked to it for novelty value, seated comfortably while gushing about the Harmony Express. One of them said that the Harmony Express felt safe, stable and comfortable. The passengers were shown having their food on the train, with smiling waitresses handing out refreshments.

The Harmony Express superfast trains have a CRH logo on their front, which stands for China Railway High-speed which was used on the inaugural run. Later, it was replaced with Chinese characters.
World's fastest Bullet train Harmony Express picture

World's fastest Bullet train Harmony Express picture

What about the fares and tickets on Harmony Express? Definitely not cheap. Harmony Express (Hexie Hao) tickets will come at a price of 780 yuan ($115, €80, £72) for first class tickets and 490 yuan for second class. These are definitely luxury fares for China Railway’s potential Chinese clientele, who travel from the industrialised cities of the Pearl River Delta to the rural hinterlands of central China. In comparison, the ticket fares on ordinary trains which travel the same distance is only a fraction of the Harmony Express fares.

In response to the Harmony Express launch, China’s airlines slashed their own fares and offered advance purchase fares which are lower than that of the Hexie Hao. Chinese airlines flying this route have also introduced hourly flights to lure passengers away from the swanky new Harmony Express.

There are 4 train series in the CRH system. They are named CRH1, CRH2, CRH3 and CRH5. All the trains in the CRH series can attain top speed above 200 kmph. Harmony Express (Hexie Hao) belongs to the CRH2 series, which have top speeds above 300 kmph. The next-generation CRH3 series of bullet trains are in the works.

The Harmony Express is a technological wonder, with each coach weighing just 8.5 tonnes. Each train has eight coaches. The body is made of lightweight, strengthened aluminum. China is believed to have spent $17 billion (12 billion euros or 11 billion pounds) to build the Harmony express. The construction of the entire Hexie Hao system took four years. The city of Wuhan invested $2.4 billion to set up a world-class station designed by a French company. There are 20 high-speed rail tracks and 11 platforms at the new Wuhan station. There are eight coaches to each train, each one air-conditioned and well-appointed.

The construction of Harmony Express started in 2005, but was delayed beyond deadlines because of the numerous elevated tracks and tunnels that the Hexie Hao will traverse during its sprint across China. The train passes over 600 bridges and 200 tunnels. The Hexie Hao train passes through 20 Chinese cities before reaching the end of the journey. The fastest Chinese bullet train passes through rice fields and agricultural belts during the harvest, which turn to frozen mud and ice during the harsh winter.

China Railway is not resting on its laurels though. The company is planning to launch 42 high-speed trains like Hexie Hao in two years. China is also planning to expand its high-speed rail system from the current 53,437 miles to 74,564 miles. According to China CREC Railway Electrification Bureau Group (CCREBG), China’s electrified railway mileage has crosses 30,000 kilometers, making it the second largest in the world.

China is certainly powering ahead with its infrastructure development, and the Harmony Express is the latest proof. A couple of years back, it launched a train from Beijing to Tibet. Beijing clearly believes that infrastructure development is key to the country’s economic development. China had unveiled its first superfast bullet train just before Beijing Olympics – linking Bejing to the port city of Tianjin. A Chinese official was quoted as saying in the official Xinhua news wire that it took decades to raise the speed of rail travel from 43 kmph in 1978 to 100 kmph in 2001. It took just nine years to triple it to 350 kmph.