China - Oct 18

On October 17th, 2014, China conducted a partial test of its first high speed bullet train on the Qinghai Plateau. When construction began in 2009, the goal of this 143.5 billion RMB (23.4 billion USD) railway was lay 1776 kilometers of track that ran through the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, thus representing a crucial step in the development of China’s western regions. The train was able to make a 218 kilometer journey between the cities of Xining and Haomen in 67 minutes, with a top speed of 200km/hr. The head engineer estimated that the railway would be ready for a full test by November of this year. Source: Phoenix News