SHANGHAI railway passengers can reach cities in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi by bullet train from December 10, the city’s railway authority announced yesterday.

Thirty-two new bullet train routes will start operation next month, linking Shanghai to Guangzhou, Nanning in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Huaihua in Hunan Province and Nanchang of Jiangxi Province. All the new bullet trains will depart from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. The new bullet train will allow passengers to reach Guangzhou in 6 hours and 51 minutes — nine hours less than the previous 16-hour ride by slow train.

Meanwhile, fast trains to cities like Harbin, Shenzhen and Lhasa will be upgraded to direct trains starting from December 10.