A new train line that makes cross-country trips faster has opened just in time for the end of the Mid-Autumn festival. The new high-speed train links Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province with Xuzhou in the eastern Jiangsu Province. The 360-kilometer line has nine stations. It links two other major high-speed rail lines. They are the Beijing to Shanghai and Beijing to Guangzhou lines.

The newly-opened high-speed rail line connects two of China's key transportation hubs, namely Zhengzhou in Central China’s Henan Province, and Xuzhou in the eastern Jiangsu Province.

The trains can cover 300 kilometers every hour. The 400-kilometer trip from Zhengzhou to Xuzhou will now take only 90 minutes. This is twice as fast as before.

Every day, there are about 350 high speed trains arriving and departing from this station.The Zhengzhou East Station is China’s largest high speed railway hub.

On top of the existing rail network, the blue lines on this map in 2012, Zhengzhou became a strategic high-speed rail hub, connecting major cities in eight different directions.

North to Beijing, south to Wuhan and Guangzhou, west to Xi'an and east to Xuzhou. From here, you can go to the capital cities of neighboring provinces within two hours. The new Zhengzhou-Xuzhou high-speed rail line also links China's two most important north-south high-speed lines, Beijing to Shanghai and Beijing to Guangzhou. Now, passengers from China's central and western regions can get to eastern cities like Shanghai and Nanjing swifter than ever.

"Now that the Zhengzhou-Xuzhou high-speed railway is open, we have more than 100 newly-added trains departing from Zhengzhou to the Yangtze River Delta Region every day. This will basically satisfy the travel needs of passengers from Henan and the surrounding provinces," said Yang Yanming from Dep. Party Sec., Zhengzhou East Railway Station.

Zhang Chenhe is the chief conductor of the bullet train traveling between Zhengzhou and Shanghai. She says the new high-speed line will attract more passengers, especially during the three-day mid-autumn festival holiday.

"The top speed for our train was only 190 kilometers per hour on the old line. Now we can travel at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour. It only takes four hours from Zhengzhou to Shanghai, two hours fewer than before," said Zhang Chenhe from Zhengzhou-Shanghai High-Speed Train.

It's more convenient to travel on high-speed trains than planes. You can make it to the destination within four hours on trains.

The ride is very comfortable and convenient. I'll choose a high-speed train during the Spring Festival travel rush.

It took less than four-and-a-half years to complete this 362-kilometer line -- its cost was just under 48 billion yuan, or about 7.5 billion US dollars. The completion of the line takes the total length of China's high-speed rail network beyond the 20,000 kilometre mark.

"I've been a conductor for four years. I’ve seen the great development of China’s high-speed rail network. Now, passengers can get to many major cities in China by high-speed train," said Zhang Chenhe.

China expects to add another 10,000 kilometres of high-speed rail by 2020, integrating about four-fifths of the country's major cities into the network in the process. By 2025, it's total length should be about 38,000 kilometers -- just shy of the equator's total length. The investment in infrastructure will continue to have a positive impact on economic growth, while the more extensive network will also create more jobs.