HOHHOT, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The first high-speed railway linking Beijing and north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region completed a trial operation without passengers Wednesday.

The China Railway Hohhot Group said a train arrived at Hohhot East Railway Station in the regional capital Hohhot at 10:36 a.m. after departing from Beijing North Railway Station to complete the trial run.

The train is a Fuxing (Rejuvenation) bullet train, China's latest generation of high-speed trains.

About 20 pairs of trains will run on the new line every day after commercial operation begins. The travel time between Hohhot and Beijing, about 500 km apart, will be cut from over nine hours to two hours and 18 minutes.

The new high-speed railway will also link Hohhot and Zhangjiakou, the co-host city of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.