An optical bit-rate flexible system using multiple in-line erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA's) has produced a regenerative repeater spacing of 505 km at 10 Gb/s and 523 km at 5 Gb/s for directdetection systems. This system proves that an optical bit-rate flexible system with a transmission capacity of 5.05 Tb/s . km can be feasibly constructed. The system power penalties are also evaluated experimentally and theoretically.