The new Wuhan-Shiyan High-speed Railway officially began running on Nov 29, according to rail executives.
The line -- running from Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province to Shiyan in Hubei -- has a top design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It is 399 kilometers in length, with an investment of 52.75 billion yuan ($7.50 billion).
The new line passes through tourist attractions including the Yellow Crane Tower, the Wudang Mountains and Danjiangkou Reservoir.
With the launch of the high-speed railway, the travel time from Wuhan to Shiyan has been shortened to two hours, while the travel time from Wuhan to Xiangyang has been shortened to roughly one hour.
The Wuhan-Shiyan High-speed Railway is one of the important components of the Fuzhou-Yinchuan High-speed Railway.
As an important part of the Wuhan-Xi'an National High-speed Railway in the future, the Wuhan-Shiyan High-speed Railway will not only be an important regional rapid railway connecting Wuhan, Xiangyang, and Shiyan in Hubei province, but also a national strategic channel connecting Central China with Northwest China and southeastern coastal areas.
Passengers on the G6817 train, running from Hankou to Shiyan, pose for a photo on Nov 29. It was the first train to run on the Wuhan-Shiyan high-speed railway since its official launch that day. [Photo/Hubei Daily]
