New railway links major SW China cities

A railway connecting Chongqing and Guiyang, two major cities in southwest China, started operation Thursday.

A railway connecting Chongqing and Guiyang pulls out at Guiyang North Railway Station in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 25, 2018. A railway connecting Chongqing and Guiyang, two major cities in southwest China opened on Thursday. Designed for passenger trains running at a speed of 200 km per hour, the 347-km railway will improve traffic between China's southwest and the rest of the country. [Photo: Xinhua]

A bullet train carrying 552 passengers left Chongqing Municipality for Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, at 8:50 a.m., according to the Chengdu railway bureau.

Forty-six pairs of bullet trains will run on the 347-km rail line, which was designed for trains running at a speed of 200 km per hour.

The line cuts travel time between Chongqing and Guiyang from the current 10 hours to 2 hours, and shortens travel time between Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, and Guiyang to 3.5 hours.
Passenger Li Xiaoqiang said he loved the natural scenery in Guizhou and that he made the trip to prepare for a family journey.

"We want to spend summer there," Li said.

Crew members wait for passengers to board the train at Guiyang North Railway Station in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 25, 2018. A railway connecting Chongqing and Guiyang, two major cities in southwest China opened on Thursday. Designed for passenger trains running at a speed of 200 km per hour, the 347-km railway will improve traffic between China's southwest and the rest of the country. [Photo: Xinhua]

Li Jie, who makes several business trips to Zunyi of Guizhou from Chongqing every month, said the new train service would shorten his travel time from 3.5 hours to less than 1.5 hours.

"In fact, I came here today just to experience the train's maiden run," he said.

A bullet train runs through a bridge over Wujiang River, a tributary of China's longest river, Yangtze, on the Chongqing-Guiyang line in Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 25, 2018. A railway connecting Chongqing and Guiyang, two major cities in southwest China, started operation Thursday. Designed for trains running at a speed of 200 km per hour, the 347-km rail line will cut travel time between Chongqing and Guiyang from the current 10 hours to 2 hours, and shorten travel time between Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, and Guiyang from current 11 hours to 3.5 hours. [Photo: Xinhua]

The new line is expected to replace the primitive Sichuan-Guizhou railway constructed between the 1950s and 1970s. Low design standards, in addition to towering cliffs and ravines along the route, shackled its traffic speed, according to Dai Xu with the Chongqing railway station.

A total of 209 bridges, 115 two-way tunnels and 12 stations were built for the new railway, which will improve traffic between China's southwest, a major source of migrant workers, and booming southern areas.