Unit 4　Public transport

　　从北京到上海，只需要288分钟！中国的高铁时代已经到来，越来越多的旅客会放弃飞机而选择火车。

　　Bin Railway Dreams

　　Imagine, one day, getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours，and then，after a full day of work, going back home to Beijing and having dinner there.

　　Sounds unusual，doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic, with the development of China's high­speed railway plan to connect the country with Southeast Asia, and eventually Eastern Europe.

　　China is negotiating to extend its own high­speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years, eventually reaching London and Singapore.If China's plan for the high­speed railway goes forward, people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days.

　　The new system would still follow China's high­speed railway standard.And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour, almost as fast as some airplanes.

　　Of course, there are some technical challenges to overcome.There are so many issues that need to be settled, such as safety, rail gauge(轨距), maintenance(维修) of railway tracks.So, it's important to pay attention to every detail.

　　It'll be a win­win project.For other countries, the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business, tourism and so on, not to mention the better communication among those countries.

For China, such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much­needed resources, but would also help develop China's far west.We foresee that in the coming decades, millions of people will migrate to the western regions, where the land is empty and resources are unused.With high­speed trains,