China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Beijing-Xiong’an rail link has opened
Pang Qinggang, from the Xiong’an New Area in Hebei province, was excited to take the debut trip to Beijing on an intercity highspeed railway on Sunday morning, in order to experience the “unprecedented convenience” offered by the new service. Pang bought a ticket for Train C2702 shortly after its booking service opened on Saturday.
His train was the first to run on the intercity rail line from Xiong’an Railway Station to Beijing West Railway Station.
Before the operation of the intercity train, it would take him over two hours to drive from his hometown to the capital. Now the traveling time is just 50 minutes.
Xiong’an, a new economic zone about 100 kilometers southwest of the capital, is aimed at becoming a national model of high-quality development and a new engine for the modern economic system.
The rail line is the first key transportation facility involving Xiong’an that has been constructed since April 2017, when the new area was established.
The construction of the intercity high-speed railway started in February 2018. It’s one of the key railways that will link the country’s “city of the future” with places all over the country.
“The line, together with Xiong’an Railway Station, has great significance in preparing Xiong’an for taking over noncapital functions from Beijing and in helping to build it into a high-quality modern socialist city,” said Wang Dongfeng, Party secretary of Hebei.
He visited Xiong’an Railway Station, also a new transportation facility in the area, and attended an opening ceremony for the line in the station on Sunday morning.
Wang said the opening of the line and the station in Xiong’an marks a milestone in the planning and construction of the area.
Xiong’an will play an important role in the national strategy of the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
The line is about 91 kilometers long, according to China State Railway Group, and there are four stops on the line between Beijing and Xiong’an, including a station at Beijing Daxing International Airport.
The highest designed speed on the line is 350 km per hour, the group said.
The section from Beijing West to Daxing airport has been in operation since September last year, with the journey taking about half an hour.
“Since then, 220,000 trips have been made on the line,” Song Tingting, head of the Office of the Beijing West Railway Station, said on Sunday.
After the section from Daxing airport to Xiong’an was open to traffic, there will be 11 pairs of high-speed trains running between Beijing West Station and Xiong’an, Song said.
The number of trains will be increased in accordance with passenger growth, she added.
From Daxing airport to Xiong’an, the fastest train journey will be just 19 minutes, according to online railway ticket-booking platform 12306.cn.
According to an official planning guideline for the development of Xiong’an, the area will be a junction for high-speed railways in the future.
The high-speed railway network where Xiong’an sits will contain four vertical lines, running south to north, and two horizontal lines, including the major line from Beijing to Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
“In terms of the new line itself, more than 70 innovative solutions have been applied in its construction and management,” said Kang Xuedong, deputy chief engineer at China Railway Design Corp.
Xiong’an New Area spans Rongcheng, Anxin and Xiongxian counties and some adjacent areas.
Construction area: 475,200 square meters
Floors: 5 (2 underground and 3 above ground)
Railway lines: 23 Platforms: 13
Photovoltaic panels: 42,000 square meters
Annual electricity output: 5.8 million kilowatt-hours
Construction starts: Dec 1, 2018
Operation starts: Dec 27, 2020