The Hunan section of the Shanghai-Kunming (Hu-Kun) high speed rail was fully completed and put into operation on Dec 16. Construction work of the Qian-Zhang-Chang railway officially started on the same day.

Hunan Provincial Party Chief Xu Shousheng, Governor Du Jia Hao, and An Limin, the leader of China Railway Corporation's Discipline Inspection Office, came to visit the high speed rail construction workers in Changsha South Railway Station that morning. They also arrived at Huaihua city by the new rail and inspected the Huaihua South Station which has recently been completed.

Xu and An also went to the Sangzhi Tunnel construction site of the Qian-Zhang-Chang railway and visited the construction workers there. Secretary-general of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee Han Yongwen and Changsha Party Chief Yi Lianhong attended the activity.

The Hunan section of Hu-Kun high speed rail stretches for 496 km, 76 km of which goes eastward from Changsha South Station to Liling Station, and 420km from Changsha to Xinhuang westward. So far, the high speed rail coverage rate in Hunan province has exceeded 70 percent. Except for Changde, Yiyang, Zhangjiajie, and the Xiangxi autonomous region, the remaining 10 cities in Hunan have all had high speed rail, with a total length of more than 1,000 km.

The Hu-Kun high speed rail is an important part of the country's overall high-speed railway network plan. It is the longest east-west passenger rail lines in China so far, running through Eastern, Central and Western China at around 2,245 km.

The whole line is divided into three parts – Hu-Hang (Shanghai-Hangzhou), Hang-Chang (Hangzhou-Changsha), and Chang-Kun (Changsha-Kunming). The Hu-Hang part was opened in 2010, Hang-Chang on Dec 10, 2014, and the Changsha-Huaihua section of the Chang-Kun line started operations on Dec 16, 2014.

The Chang-Kun part starts from Changsha city, passing Xiangtan, Shaoyang, Loudi, and Huaihua in Hunan province, Kaili, Guiyang, Anshun, and Panxian in Guizhou province, Qujing in Yunnan province, and arrives at Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan.

When completed, the distance between Hunan province and inland provinces in Southwest China will be greatly narrowed down. The railway traveling time from Changsha to Kunming will be shortened to around 4 hours from the current 22.75 hours.

The Hu-Kun and Beijing-Giangzhou (Jing-Guang) high speed railways meet in Changsha South Railway Station, making the capital city of Hunan province a golden hub of communications.