Summary：IRJ at the UIC 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail, Philadelphia: Mr Zhang Jianping, director general of China's Ministry of Railways.

IRJ at the UIC 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail, Philadelphia: Mr Zhang Jianping, director general of China's Ministry of Railways, said today that the Beijing - Shanghai high-speed line, which celebrated its first birthday on July 1, has carried 52 million passengers in its first full year operation.

Zhang says this is more than expected and despite the decision to operate trains at a maximum speed of 300km/h rather than the design speed of 380km/h envisaged prior to the Wenzhou accident last year.

According to Zhang, daily fares revenue on the 1318km line is around Yuan 60m ($US 9.4m).

Zhang also confirmed to IRJ that the 1125km Beijing - Wuhan line will open in two stages in October and December.