Revenue services on the Wuhan – Guangzhou passenger-dedicated line began running on December 26, cutting the journey time between the capitals of Hubei and Guangdong provinces to under 3 h, compared with 10 h 30 min via the 1 068 km conventional route. The inaugural trains left the new stations at Wuhan and Guangzhou Bei at 09.00 on the first morning, with southbound train G1001 recording a time of 2 h 48 min at an average speed of 329·3 km/h.