Xinjiang, Gansu linked by high-speed rail line
Print Edition
A HIGH-speed rail line running almost 1,800 kilometers between Urumqi, capital of west China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province, opened yesterday.
A bullet train capable of speeds of up to 250kph departed Urumqi with female attendants in ethnic dress serving 622 passengers, China Central Television reported.
The line, the first to link Xinjiang to a neighboring region, stretches through rugged terrain including vast deserts, the Qilian mountain range, an ancient section of the Great Wall and strong wind zones, slashing travel time between the two cities by half to under 12 hours, CCTV said.
China also launched two other fast rail lines yesterday, meaning more than 3,200km of high-speed track were put into use on a single day, highlighting the rapid development of the country’s network.
The western high-speed railway comes as China is pushing a Silk Road Economic Belt to boost commercial ties with countries in Central Asia and ultimately to Europe.
Also opening yesterday were lines linking the prosperous southern commercial hub of Guangzhou with Guiyang in the underdeveloped province of Guizhou, and Nanning in neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Xinhua news agency reported.
China has long had an extensive rail system but in recent years has pushed the development of super-fast trains that have slashed travel times between major cities.
Xinjiang, a vast area bordering Central Asia, is home to Uygurs and other Muslim ethnic groups. According to Xinhua, the line linking Lanzhou to Urumqi is 1,776km long and its trains are designed to travel at a maximum speed of 250kph.
Construction on the line started in November 2009. A section linking Urumqi and the Xinjiang city of Hami opened last month.
Also this month, a line that cut train travel times between the commercial hubs of Shanghai and Guangzhou from 16 hours to 7 began operation.
Completion of a line linking Beijing and Lanzhou in 2017 will cut travel times between the Chinese capital and Urumqi from 41 hours to just 16, Xinhua said.
Started in 1999, China’s high-speed rail network is the largest in the world and expected to reach 16,000km by 2020.
In late 2012, China opened what it hailed as the world’s longest high-speed train line linking Beijing in the north with Guangzhou, near Hong Kong.
The network, however, has been plagued by graft and safety scandals following its rapid expansion, with a deadly collision in July 2011 killing more than 36 people.
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