China’s High-Speed Railway Continues Development, Improving Transit

high-speed railway

A new high-speed railway route has started operation this week, connecting Hefei and Fuzhou, the capitals of the Anhui and Fujian provinces, respectively. 

The new railway reduces travel time significantly between the two cities, as well as between several other stops on the route. 

This marks the first high-speed railways across this mountainous region, and brings faster and more convenient service to several tourist attraction areas including Anhui’s Yellow Mountain, Sanqing Mountain of Jiangxi, and Wuyi Mountain in Fujian province. 

The new route utilizes many bridges and tunnels, but the outdoor sections have beautiful views. 

The new route also connects Fuzhou to Beijing, bringing that travel time down from more than 10 hours to now less than 8 hours. 

 The railway connects to Nanchang, Hefei, Guiyang, and other important hubs.

In addition to the new sections of railway, new Chinese-designed trains are also being tested to be put into place. 

The new trains, designed specifically for the varying terrain throughout China, will replace older, foreign models. 

Prototypes with operational speeds of 217-248 mph are being tested over the coming months, with planned trial runs on the Daton-Xi’an high-speed line. 

China now has approximately 10,000 miles of fast track in operation and another 6,000+ under construction.