A new railway connecting Chengdu and Kunming in southwest China’s Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces respectively was put into operation on Monday, shortening the travel time from 19 to 7 hours.
The railway, with a total length of 915 kilometers, has a designed speed of 160 km/h.
Meanwhile, Chengdu also launched a direct train to Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan on Monday for the first time to further facilitate the travel of passengers.
This railway is a renovated project based on the old Chengdu-Kunming railway whose transportation capacity is unable to meet demands anymore. It connects with the Chengdu Railway Hub in the north and linked to China-Laos Railway through Kunming Railway Hub in the south.
It will promote the connectivity between southwest China and international passages and the country’s high-level opening as well, said Tang Jiqiang, a professor from the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.
