BEIJING - The world's longest high-speed rail route linking Chinese capital Beijing and the southern metropolis Guangzhou started operation as a bullet train departed from Beijing at 9:00 am Wednesday.

Running at an average speed of 300 km per hour, the 2,298-km new route has cut travel time between Beijing and Guangzhou from more than 20 hours to around eight.

After the open of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railroad, China now has more than 9,300 kilometers of operating high-speed railways.

The G502 high-speed train departs from the Changsha South Railway Station in Central China's Hunan province on Dec 26, 2012. The train is on the new Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail route. [Photo/Xinhua]