Builders from China Railway No 4 Engineering Group start laying tracks on May 8 for the Yibin-Yanjin South section of Chongqing-Kunming High-speed Railway, helping to bolster social-economic development along the route. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Amid the country's drive to expand the operating mileage of railways, builders from China Railway No 4 Engineering Group (CREC4) have begun laying tracks for a new high-speed railway in Southwest China.
CREC4 builders began laying the first set of 500-meter-long steel rails on May 8 in Yibin, Sichuan province, officially kicking off the commencement of the full track-laying project for the Yibin-Yanjin South section of Chongqing-Kunming HSR.
Li Zhongqiang, CREC4's technical leader of track laying for the project, said as a crucial component of China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" HSR network, the Chongqing-Kunming HSR starts from Chongqing West Station — and after traversing Chongqing municipality, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces — ends at Kunming South Station, spanning some 700 kilometers with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour.
Divided into three sections for construction — the Chongqing-Yibin section (Chongqing West to Yibin), the Sichuan-Yunnan section (Yibin to Yanjin South), and the Yunnan section (Yanjin South to Kunming South Station) — the Chongqing-Yibin section has been in operation since Sept 29, 2024, while the Sichuan-Yunnan and Yunnan sections are progressing in an orderly manner, Li said.
He added that the total track laying (including station lines) for the Yibin-Yanjin South section extends some 157 kilometers, with about 152.4 kilometers for the main line and 4.64 kilometers for the station lines.
"The terrain features significant undulations and is characterized by numerous long tunnels, limited working space, and multiple blind spots in communication and signaling along the route," Li's colleague, Deng Yutao, noted.
The CREC4 builders have put into place 32 fixed group cranes, 80 railway flatbed vehicles, two DF4B locomotives, one ballastless track laying unit, and two mobile flash welding machines to ensure the full success of the track-laying engineering, Deng said.
CREC4 builders start laying tracks for the Yibin-Yanjin South section of Chongqing-Kunming HSR on May 8, helping to bolster social-economic development along the route. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Early this year, during the working conference for the country's railway sector, Chinese railway operator China Railway promised to expand the operating mileage of railways from the current 165,000 kilometers to 180,000 kilometers by the end of 2030. As part of the effort, the country's high-speed railway will be increased from 50,000 kilometers to 60,000 kilometers by the end of 2030.
According to Yuan Xiaoshu, secretary of the Yibin Command of the railway owner, the offline projects such as the roadbed, bridges, and tunnels of the Sichuan-Yunnan section are basically completed. The new track-laying work will help lay a solid foundation for the on-time operation of the whole line.
Deng stressed that upon the operation of the entire line, the new HSR can strengthen the connection between the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and the central Yunnan region, significantly slashing travel time between Chongqing and Kunming, and bolstering the social-economic development along the route.
