China will officially start operation of the world’s fastest train service next month, knocking an hour off the 1,318 km journey between Beijing and Shanghai. Seven pairs of bullet trains – named Fuxing, which means rejuvenation – will start operating from September 21. At present, the fastest trains in China, which have their top speed capped at 300 km/h, are named Hexie, or Harmony. China had briefly tried a maximum speed of 350 km/h, but a deadly train crash in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, in 2011 forced the railway authorities to reduce the upper speed limit. Bullet trains have now become a key export product for China, so the government is keen to increase their speed. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed route is one of the most popular, with around 600 million passengers since it opened in 2011, and it is also one of the most profitable in China. The operator of the route made a profit of CNY6.6 billion in 2015. According to the current train schedule, the fastest bullet train running between the cities takes four hours and 55 minutes, and most bullet trains take around 5½ hours. A one-way ticket costs CNY553 for a regular seat and CNY933 for a first-class seat. It is not known whether China Railway will raise ticket prices after the speed is increased. Authorities tested the 350 km/h services on some parts of the line last month and the results convinced officials they would be able to run at higher speeds along the whole line, the South China Morning Post reports.