At the end of June, China launched a new section of its high-speed rail (HSR) in the northwestern province of Gansu.
The section, which connects the provincial capital Lanzhou to the city of Wuwei, will have trains operating at a maximum speed of 250 km per hour, crossing six stations throughout 193 km.
The new section is part of a larger railroad that connects the capital of Gansu to the capital of Xinjiang, the city of Urumqi. At over 1,900 kilometers, it is the longest in the northwest region of the country and the only one connecting the Xinjiang Autonomous Region with the rest of China.
It runs along the Hexi Corridor, a historic route and the most important part of the Ancient Silk Road in this region.
The new railroad line also marks the surpassing of the HSR construction target set for 2030. According to China's State Council earlier this year, the country already has 45,000 km of high-speed rail.
The project began in 2004, when the Chinese government created the Medium and Long-Term Railway Network Plan, which determined that the country's transportation capacity should meet the needs of national economic and social development. The plan was revised in 2016, which determined some of the goals that were achieved in advance.
The plan included the design of an HSR network called “eight vertical and eight horizontal." The goal was to double the previous network to improve the connection between the North and South regions and between the East and West parts of the country.
Young men and women from different ethnicities of the Gansu province at the ceremony to launch the HSR Lanzhou-Wuwei line/ Mauro Ramos
Another goal outlined in the plan is to expand the HSR network to connect all cities with more than 500,000 residents. According to the latest census, China has 105 cities with more than 1 million inhabitants.
In a study published by the Asian Development Bank, transportation expert Manmohan Parkash said that one of the reasons for the success of the projects is the fact that China has “a disciplined and skilled workforce that actively supports the management team when new techniques, work practices and efficiency measures are introduced.”
According to Parkash, “the provision of low-cost, long-distance transportation services for passengers and goods should be the main contribution of railroads to the country's economic development.”
Connectivity and rural revitalization
The new line inaugurated in Gansu at the end of June has changed the region's transportation potential, increasing passenger transport capacity and freeing up lines for the transportation of goods, said Wang Dalin, an official with China Railway Lanzhou.
“[The railroad] Lanzhou-Urumqi played a vital role in rural revitalization, the construction of the Belt and Road Iniciative and the opening up of the China-Europe rail connection,” he explained.
One of the new stations is in Tianzhu, a Tibetan-majority county whose main activities are agriculture, livestock farming and tourism.
Speaking to Brasil de Fato, Hao Yuqin, from the Tianzhu Cultural Tourism Company, believes that the new station will contribute to the marketing of the county's agricultural products, such as yak meat, which comes from a species of cattle native to this region.
The development of China's high-speed rail network is also seen as an important element of rural revitalization, a program that continues the country's policies to eradicate extreme poverty. In addition to boosting local tourism, new HSR stations in the countryside can encourage new small businesses and create job posts, preventing internal migration in search of opportunities.
“The opening of our HSR has also played a big role in developing our economy and the tourism industry in Tianzhu County. […] Thus, we welcome everyone to our county to know some of our products,” said Hao Yuqin.
