Earlier this month, the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway started full operation as a new section linking Hubei\u2019s Xiangyang and Chongqing\u2019s Wanzhou was put into use.
\nThe railway shortened the trip from Beijing to southwest China\u2019s Chongqing municipality to 6 hours and 46 minutes, and that from Zhengzhou, central China\u2019s Henan province to Chongqing to 4 hours and 23 minutes, bringing closer the city cluster in central China and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle.
\nThe Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway crosses a region with the world\u2019s most complicated geographical conditions. 98 percent of the overall mileage consists of bridges and tunnels. With complex and variable landscapes, geologic hazards always take place in the region. In addition, the high requirement on environmental protection during the construction also made the project extremely challenging.
\nFor instance, the Xiaosanxia tunnel along the Chongqing section of the railway is the longest single-hole double-track railway tunnel with a designed speed of 350km per hour in Asia. It has the highest level of risk as a railway tunnel in China.
\nThere are 152 outfalls of crack water, interstitial water, and underground rivers, as well as 30 karst caves in the tunnel. The maximum daily water inflow in the tunnel could hit 168,000 cubic meters, which is equivalent to the water storage in over 60 standard swimming pools.
\nTo steer clear of all potential risks, the project team set up multiple professional work groups and adopted a series of technical solutions such as geological radar, horizontal percussion drilling for advanced geological prediction, and geological surveying during the construction. The total mileage in the plans prepared by the project team added up to more than 8,000 kilometers.
\nThe Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway was built according to stringent environmental protection standards. There is no bridge pier built in the water in protection zones for water resources that the railway crosses, and the railway adopted single-hole double-track tunnels to reduce excavations. Besides, the railway has chosen gabions over concrete structure, built bionic ecological water systems and restored original wetlands. During the construction, the project team tried its best to fit the railway into the surrounding natural landscape and to minimize the project\u2019s environmental impact..
\nThe operation of the high-speed railway will significantly enhance the flow of passengers, logistics, information, and capital.
\n\u201cNow we finally enjoy the convenience of direct trains,\u201d said Gao Jianxin, business manager of Lucky Huaguang Graphics Co., Ltd., a company based in Henan province. According to him, he and his colleagues had to make detours via Xi\u2019an in northwest China\u2019s Shaanxi province to go to southwestern provinces such as Yunnan and Guizhou.
\nThe southwestern region is an important market of the company, and the newly-opened high-speed railway will largely reduce the travel time for the company\u2019s employees, Gao said. \u201cThe business team of our company is currently working to expand our sales. We must grasp the opportunity brought by the high-speed railway,\u201d he told People’s Daily.
\nBefore the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway was put into operation, some high-quality projects of high-end equipment manufacturing and modern services had already been started along the route.
\nIn Yunyang, Chongqing municipality, Sichuan-based Sino-Agricultural Modern Investment Co., Ltd. has invested 1.5 billion yuan ($224.3 million) to build an intelligent cold-chain logistics center. In Wanzhou, Chongqing, more than 20 key projects have commenced, including a cable project for high-end new energy equipment.
\n\u201cThe opening of the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway will do us a great favor in the industrial relocation from central and eastern China to the Chengdu-Chongqing region,\u201d said Wang Haiyun, an official with the economy and information technology committee of Wanzhou. The new technologies and products from enterprises in central and eastern China are expected to accelerate local industrial restructuring and upgrading, he added.
\nThe Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway is also bringing the natural scenery, resources and culture along the route closer to the market.
\nIn the past, tourists usually went to the attractions in the Three Gorges, the three adjacent gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River by ship. Today, they can go faster thanks to the newly-opened high-speed railway.
\n\u201cTourists were always on ships when they visited the Three Gorges, so they barely made any consumption,\u201d said Li Xuefeng, head of a tourism company, adding that the company will work to attract tourists to stay overnight given the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway.
\nAccording to him, a series of leisure and tourism projects have been built in Wushan county, which sits at the western entrance to the Wu Gorge in the Three Gorges region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Earlier this month, the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway started full operation as a new section linking Hubei\u2019s Xiangyang and Chongqing\u2019s Wanzhou was put into use. The railway shortened the trip from Beijing to southwest China\u2019s Chongqing municipality to 6 hours and 46 minutes, and that from Zhengzhou, central China\u2019s Henan province to Chongqing to 4 hours […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270548,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-270537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n