High-Speed Rail Expansion
China expands its high-speed rail network with four new nationwide lines
Anonymous
China opened four high-speed rail sections on September 28, expanding its already-largest network and linking Xiong’an with Shangqiu, Xi’an with Ankang, Yichang with Xingshan, and Harbin with Yichun. The routes are intended to improve regional travel, commuting, tourism and freight connections, while supporting local economic activity. The Xi’an–Ankang line cuts travel time from about three hours to 45 minutes and is also expected to increase capacity for shipping goods from northern Shaanxi. In the northeast, the 318-kilometer Harbin–Yichun line reduces the trip from roughly seven hours to about two and was engineered to operate in permafrost and temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Key Points
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The 101-kilometer Yichang–Xingshan line is designed for speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour and forms part of a corridor linking Sichuan and Chongqing with central China. It is expected to reduce travel between Wuhan and Chongqing, more than 700 kilometers apart, to three hours and 54 minutes.
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The 171-kilometer Xi’an–Ankang line crosses the Qinling Mountains and has five stations, running from Xi’an East Station to Ankang West Station.
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The Harbin–Yichun railway has nine stations, including Yichun West, which is the highest-latitude high-speed rail station in China. Railway officials said they would schedule up to 38 electric multiple-unit trains daily at the start of service.
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The new Harbin–Yichun service also creates faster longer-distance connections: the quickest journeys from Yichun to Beijing’s Chaoyang Station and to Dalian are eight hours and 46 minutes and six hours and seven minutes, respectively.
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