Beijing-Shenyang high-speed rail line begins operations

Shenyang held the opening ceremony of the Beijing-Shenyang high-speed railway service on Friday morning, which is now the fastest railway line from Beijing to Northeast China.

The initial speed of this high-speed railway service is 300 kilometers per hour. The fastest time from Beijing to Shenyang is 2 hours and 44 minutes, and from Beijing to Harbin is 4 hours and 52 minutes.

"At the beginning year of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the opening of the Beijing-Harbin high-speed railway service is an important milestone for the group to serve the new development pattern, support the revitalization and high-quality development of Northeast China," said Zhao Zhigang, director of planning and statistics for China Railway Shenyang Group Co Ltd. 

The 1198-km Beijing-Harbin high-speed railway is an important part of the country's "eight vertical and eight horizontal" trunk railway lines of the national high-speed railway service network. The section from Shenyang to Harbin started operations in 2012, and the section from Shenyang to Hebei's  Chengde started operations in 2018. The newly unveiled section from Beijing to Chengde is 192 km long.

Experts said a Fuxing high-speed bullet train that can operate under temperatures as low as -40 C made its debut in Beijing early January. The train is designed to run at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour and carry as many as 1,080 passengers.

Developers have taken measures to ensure the train operates safely in extremely cold weather, including adding unique braking and electrical heating systems.

"Northeast China is the nation's industrial cradle and main granary. This high-speed railway service will meet the needs of the public for better travel service, provide more railway freight transport capacity and promote economic development,"said GengLingqian, deputy director of the group's passenger transport department.

Chen Mo contributed to the story.