Adi Turdi, the first bullet train driver in China from the Uygur ethnic group, said his daughter will be among the passengers on the maiden journey of Xinjiang's bullet train.

"I will buy my 4-year-old daughter a ticket to take the train once the line is put into use. As far as I know, people from all of Xinjiang's ethnic groups are waiting excitedly for the line to come into operation," the 34-year-old said.

"My family is very happy and proud that I will be the first Uygur to drive a bullet train," he said.

The Urumqi Railway Bureau selected a team of 12 drivers to participate in tests of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed railway - Adi Turdi is one of two drivers from the ethnic groups, the other being a man from the Kazak ethnic group.

The drivers had to undergo stringent tests to qualify for the job. "We had our eyesight, hearing and hearts checked, as well as our psychological condition, because the requirements for bullet train drivers are higher than those for operators of lower-speed trains," Adi Turdi said, adding that he has driven more than 573,000 kilometers in various trains without an accident.

"We traveled to Beijing to attend interviews and training courses," he said.

Before joining the bullet train team, he worked on the Urumqi-to-Hami line, where the trains travel at 140 km per hour.

"Compared with ordinary trains, bullet trains provide a much more comfortable working environment and a lighter workload, so I feel quite satisfied with the job."

Dilidar Abudula, 25, a train attendant, said the bureau employed her after she graduated from Xinjiang Arts University. "I am one of the first Uygur university graduates to join the railway sector," she said.

"I love this job because, considering a lot of people have never visited the region before, the attendants are likely to be the first Xinjiang people the passengers will have met. My smile will be their first impression of Xinjiang. I think that's amazing," she said.

But being the face of Xinjiang is never an easy job, according to another attendant, Zulhumar Tursun, 22. "We were chosen from the nearly 5,000 attendants in Xinjiang who applied for posts on the bullet train," she said. "Applicants need to be 166 to 174 centimeters tall and the desired weight ranges from 52 to 58 kilograms."

The successful applicants were sent to Shijiazhuang in Hebei province and Nanjing in Jiangsu province to undertake monthlong internships on high-speed lines.

Zulhumar Tursun said she gets on well with all of her colleagues. "There are Uygurs, Hui and Han in my nine-member team and we are like a family."

So far, 28 attendants have been chosen to work on the new line, according to Li Yan, a senior manager in charge of passenger services at the bureau.

The number of attendants from ethnic groups will be increased, he said, and a second group is now undergoing training in Shijiazhuang.

Wang Jibei, the head of the attendants, said all the staff on the train have received training in emergency response, safety procedures, and anti-terrorist measures.

"That will mean we're able to handle all possible contingencies, and the passengers can rest assured that their journeys in Xinjiang will be safe and comfortable," she said.

(China Daily USA 06/12/2014 page7)