CHINA’s 257km Xi’an - Shiyan high speed line opened on June 30. The broadly north-south line has a maximum speed of 350km/h, with a 2h 41min end-to-end journey time.

The line has new stations at Xi'an East, Lantian, Shangluo West, Shanyang, Manchuanguan, and Yunxi and connects to the Wuhan - Shiyan high speed line at its terminus at Shiyan East.

The new line provides an alternative high-speed route from Xi’an to Wuhan, taking 1h 1min less than services travelling via the existing Beijing - Guangzhou high speed line.

Construction commenced in mid-December 2021. The line traverses the Qinling Fault Zone which has complex geological conditions and presented significant construction challenges. The project included the construction of the 18km Xiling tunnel under the Qinling mountains, which took three years to bore.

New station

The new Foshan high-speed station on the Guangzhou - Zhanjiang high-speed ​​line opened on July 1. The station has a total construction area of ​​294,000m2, a station building area of ​​50,000m2, and five platforms and nine tracks including one island platform and two tracks reserved for future use.

The new station is served by 35 high-speed trains per day with Guangzhou - Beijing and Guangzhou - Shenzhen services now originating and terminating at Foshan. The fastest journey between Guangzhou and Foshan is just 18 minutes.

Further expansion

On July 2, trial operation of the Wenling - Yuhuan section of the Hangzhou - Taizhou high-speed line began. Designed for 350km/h operation, the line traverses several ecologically sensitive areas, including provincial forest parks and reservoirs.

At the end of June, China’s National Development and Reform Commission approved the construction of the Sixian - Suqian section of the Hefei - Suqian line. The section will be 71.8km long, 59km of which will be newly built. The remaining 12.8km will use the existing Weifang - Suqian high-speed railway line. The total cost of the line is expected to be Yuan 10bn ($US 1.47bn).

Conventional line

Also, at the end of June, construction started of the Yining - Aksu railway in Xinjiang in the northwest of China. The single-track mixed-traffic line is designed for 160km/h operation and will halve journey times between northern and southern Xinjiang once completed in 2032.

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