WUHAN, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- China has begun research and development on a new "super-speed" railway technology, an official with China's Ministry of Railways (MOR) said Tuesday.

The new technology will increase the average speed of trains to over 500 kilometers per hour, said MOR Chief Engineer He Huawu at conference held in central China's Wuhan City.

Meanwhile, the 400-500 km/h high-speed railway technology is in its final phase of development and the 380-km/h trains are already coming off production lines, He added.

As of September, China had put into service 7,055 kilometers of high-speed railway tracks -- the longest in the world -- and that is expected to reach hit 13,000 kilometers by 2012.

"We aim to lead the world in high-speed railway construction," said He.

In September, the China-made CRH380A train hit a speed of 416.6 kilometers per hour on a test run to set a new world train speed record.

High-speed train run at a speeds in excess of 200 kilometers per hour. Their use is rapidly expanding in China as the country strives to relieve pressures on its transportation systems. (An)