China's first 'subway' high-speed rail commences operation

(ECNS) -- The Zhengzhou-Chongqing high-speed railway entered full operation on Monday as its section connecting Xiangyang city in central China’s Hubei province and the Wanzhou District in Southwest China’s Chongqing city opened on the same day.

With a total length of 1,068 km, the subway-like high-speed railway links Chongqing and Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, and travels through Central China's Hubei province as well.

It has shortened the travel time to Chongqing from Beijing and Zhengzhou to 6 hours 46 minutes and 4 hours and 23 minutes respectively.

The newly opened section from Xiangyang to Wanzhou is 434 kilometers long with a top speed of 350 km per hour. It consists of 91 bridges and 57 tunnels, and 10 stations.

And another two sections along the railway were opened in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

Over 92 percent of the whole route is in tunnels, which makes passengers on this line feel like travelling by subway. And about 97 percent of the Xiangyang- Wanzhou section are bridges and tunnels.

Launched as a new channel connecting southwestern China, Central China, and North China, the whole railway is expected to boost the economic and people-to-people exchanges among the regions and promote the development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, Yangtze River Economic Belt, cities in Central China, and more.