The Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train starts operation on Feb. 6, 2010. This is the first high-speed passenger railway in western China, Xinhua reported. The train, with a speed of up to 352 km/h, finishes the 505km distance in one hour and 48 minutes instead of six hours, according to China Railway First Survey and Design Institute. The line, part of a major east-west railway artery between Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province and Lanzhou in Gansu, cost about 35.3 billion yuan (US$5.2 billion).