More cities on the Chinese mainland have got direct rail links to and from Hong Kong under CR’s latest timetable, while the national rail network continues to grow with another flurry of year-end openings.
CHINA: Through high speed services between Xi’an, Wuhan and Kowloon were formally launched on January 5, when China Railways introduced its latest national timetable.
Using the Guangzhou – Shenzhen – Hong Kong high speed line opened in 2018, the additional services are intended to enhance connections between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and major cities across the Chinese mainland.
With effect from the timetable change, Suzhou became the first prefecture-level city in Jiangsu to be served by direct trains to Hong Kong, following the formal inauguration of the 163·5 km Shanghai Hongqiao – Suzhou Nan – Huzhou line on December 26.
Under construction since 2020 to augment capacity in the Yangtze River Delta region, this 350 km/h line is already carrying 110 trains/day in each direction, up from an initial service of 38 trains/day introduced from November.
According to the National Railway Administration, the total length of railways in the Yangtze River Delta region now exceeds 15 000 km, almost half of which are high speed lines. Opening of the latest route has reduced the fastest journey time between Shanghai and Huzhou from 2 h to just 43 min.
The length of China’s high speed network has now reached 47 000 km, NRA reported on December 26. A total of 3 000 route-km of new line was put into service during 2024, of which 2 300 km was designated as high speed. This has increased the overall length of the China Railway network to 162 000 km. Another 590bn yuan has been allocated for railway investment during 2025, which is expected to see a further 2 600 km of new line coming into operation. China’s total rail network is now targeted to reach 180 000 route-km by 2030, including around 60 000 km of high speed lines.
Among the lines added in recent months, a 236·5 km route in Shandong province was opened for revenue service on October 21. Linking Changyi near Weifang to Zhifu in Yantai District, the 350 km/h route is intended to form part of a future Tianjin – Weifangai – Yantai axis.
Jining – Datong – Yuanping
Another 250 km/h high speed line was inaugurated on December 31, connecting Jining in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region with Datong and Yuanping in Shanxi province. Test running had been underway since November 21 on this 268·3 km route which is designed to connect the central and western regions of Nei Mongol into the national high speed network. Operated by China Railway Hohhot Group, a CR subsidiary, the line connects with the Hohhot – Zhangjiakou, Datong – Xi’an, and Zhengzhou – Taiyuan high speed lines, reducing the journey time between the provincial capitals of Hohhot and Taiyuan from about 5 h to 2½ h.
In neighbouring Gansu province, construction of the Wuwei – Zhangye section of the Lanzhou – Zhangye high speed line was officially launched on December 15. Work on the 244 km route is expected to take around three years, adding stations at Jinchang Nan, Shandan Bei, and Zhangye Xi. This is the third stage of a 250 km/h line that has been under construction for the past decade. The 61 km first phase from Lanzhou Xi to Zhongchuan Airport was completed in September 2015, while the 193 km second section to Wuwei Dong was opened in June 2024.
Traffic rising
According to NRA, China’s railways carried 4·08 billion passengers in 2024, an increase of 10·8% compared to 2023. Ridership is expected to continue growing in 2025 to a forecast 4·28 billion. Meanwhile, freight volumes are also projected to increase by around 3% in the coming year to 5·18 billion tonnes.
