Remote Daliang Mountain in SW China sees departure of first bullet train

A "Fuxing" high-speed Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) left Xichang City in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, for Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Monday.

It marked the departure of the first "Fuxing" bullet train from the prefecture in the remote Daliang Mountain, one of China's most recent areas to shake off abject poverty.

The high-speed train operates at a speed of 160 km per hour on the new Chengdu-Kunming railway, which runs almost parallel to an existing railway between the two cities.

Running via tunnels and bridges, the high-speed train can reduce the travel distance between the two cities by about 236 km.

Thanks to the new bullet train service, local fresh cut flowers from Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture are estimated to reach the Kunming Dounan Flower Market, Asia's largest fresh cut flower trading market, in roughly four hours.

This new train service is also regarded as another effort to consolidate the country's achievements in poverty alleviation.