The Chinese Guangshen Railway Company is in the running to operate Britain's new flagship HS2 line.

HS2 (short for High Speed 2) will, as the name suggests, become only the second high speed railway in the UK when it opens in 2026.

The railway link between Guangzhou and Shenzhen [File photo: sznews.com]

The British Government has now unveiled a shortlist of bidders to run the franchise.

These include three partnerships - of which one is a joint bid between MTR of Hong Kong and Guangshen Railway Company.

Further announcements about the shortlist of bidders are expected over the next few months.

Guangshen Railway Company is the operator of the 152-kilometre railway link between Guangzhou and Shenzhen - a line with many similarities to HS2.

Meanwhile, their partner in the bid, MTR, are already gaining experience in the UK rail market.

It was reported in March that from August of this year the South West Trains franchise will pass to a partnership formed of First Group (a company who have long been involved with running various British rail franchises) and MTR, the operator of Hong Kong's Metro.

Reacting to the news at the time, South West Trains watch, a passenger interest group, said:

"We now need First and MTR to deliver on their promises and give us a service that we can finally be proud of."

Those promises made by First and MTR include new timetables, which could increase the number of peak seats into and out of London by as much as 20 percent.

The companies will also make a payment of over £2.5 billion to the British government over the seven years of the deal.