China Launches Longest Rail Line

Sure beats the Acela. China launched the world’s longest high-speed rail line Wednesday morning, as the first trains took off from Beijing to Guangzhou, an economic hub in the south, early this morning. The 1,400-mile trip—roughly the distance from Boston to Miami—takes eight hours at a starting pace of 186mph. Previously, the fastest time between the two cities by train was more than 20 hours. Meanwhile, Amtrak trains from New York to Miami, a shorter distance, take nearly 30 hours. One-way tickets on China’s silver bullet start at $140 and run up to $470 for a VIP lounge.