Speed increase on Harbin to Dalian rail line delayed

The 50 per cent speed increase on the high-speed rail from Harbin to Dalian, originally scheduled for April 1, is likely be postponed for operational and safety reasons.

The route passes through the northeast provinces of Liaoning and Jilin to the capital of Heilongjiang province, and experiences some of the coldest weather in China. When the service was launched in December, the trains were intended to operate at 200km/h in winter and 300km/h in summer, starting from April.

But some official train ticket agents in both cities said earlier this week they had received no official word that the trains would start operating at the higher speed. "We should have received instructions by now, but we haven't. So it is unlikely to happen," said one agent, without giving her name.

Speculation about the delay had been reported by local and state media, including the Dalian Evening News and the website of People's Daily this week.

The Harbin to Dalian route, which takes 5½ hours at the slower speed, has been one of China's most troublesome high-speed rail projects.

Stretching more than 900 kilometres, it was the nation's most northerly high-speed line and faces extremely low temperatures. Harbin has the coldest, longest and most snowbound winters of any provincial capital. Its six-year construction cost more 95 billion yuan (HK$117 billion), more than 25 per cent over budget. Its project manager was detained by anti-corruption authorities two years ago, and the launch was delayed for months over concerns about the standard of construction.