CHINA: The 399 km Passenger-Dedicated Line between Wuhan and Shiyan was opened for revenue services on November 29, as the first stage of a direct high speed route linking Wuhan with Xi’an.
The city of Shiyan is a major automotive manufacturing centre in the northwest of Hubei province.
China Railway is initially operating 11 trains each way per day serving 13 stations. Additional services are scheduled to be introduced with the new national timetable on December 30.
The alignment has designed for 350 km/h operation, although trains are limited to 300 km/h during the initial phase of operation. The fastest end-to-end journey time is 1 h 57 min, compared with 5 h 6 min on the existing conventional line.
The project cost 52·7bn yuan, of which 26·4bn yuan was contributed by CR and the regional authorities along the line; the remainder was raised from other sources including China Development Bank.
The connecting 300 km PDL from Shiyan to Xi’an is expected to be completed in 2023.
