Nanjing–Qidong railway
| Nanjing–Qidong railway | |
|---|---|
 A train arrives at Yangzhou railway station. | |
| Overview | |
| Other name(s) | Ningqi railway |
| Native name | 南京–启东铁路 |
| Status | Operating |
| Locale | Jiangsu, People's Republic of China |
| Termini | |
| Service | |
| Type | Intercity rail |
| History | |
| Opened | July 2005 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 268.3 kilometres (166.7 mi)[1] |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Operating speed | 200 km/h |
The Nanjing–Qidong railway (simplified Chinese: 南京–启东铁路; traditional Chinese: 南京–啟東鐵路; pinyin: Nánjīng–Qǐdōng tiělù), commonly referred to in short as the Ningqi railway (simplified Chinese: 宁启铁路; traditional Chinese: 寧啟鐵路; pinyin: Níngqǐ tiělù), is a railway in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. Its common name is derived from Ning, the one-character abbreviation for Nanjing and Qi, which refers to Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong. Despite its name, the railway currently runs as far as east as Nantong East railway station, and does not extend into Qidong itself, although this remaining section is under construction. At its present state, the railway is 268.3 kilometres (166.7 mi) in length. It runs along the northern bank of the Yangtze River, serving cities such as Yangzhou, Taizhou, and Hai'an. Passenger service is currently operated between Nanjing railway station and Nantong railway station only.[2]
History
Planning for a railway along the north bank of the Yangtze River began as early as 1958. In 1977, the government of Jiangsu province designated the railway from Nanjing to Nantong as a project for completion within the next 10 years. Due to funding shortage and disagreement over route, the project was not built for 20 years. The project was revived in the late 1990s with the onset of construction on the Xinyi–Changxing railway, which was the first railway to be built in Jiangsu province north of the Yangtze River. In 2001, the Ministry of Railways approved plans for the Ningqi railway, and construction was built in two phases. The Nanjing to Hai'an section was built from March 1, 2002 to December 2003. The Haian to Yangzhou and Nantong sections were completed by July 2005.
As of 2013, a major upgrade project is carried out on the Nanjing–Qidong railway. It involves electrifying the rail line and building a second track. Once the project is completed (which is expected to happen by the end of 2014), the travel time from Nantong to Nanjing is expected to be halved, from the present 3 hours 50 min to 1 hour 50 min.[3][4] The EMU train has entered to trial operation from May 6, 2016[5] and entered to operation from May 15, 2016.[6]
Plans are now approved [7] (Dec 2013) for a cross-river connection from Nantong to the Shanghai metropolitan area (the Shanghai–Nantong railway). It will connect to the Nanjing–Qidong railway at Pingdong station (Chinese: 平东站; pinyin: Píngdōng Zhàn) on the northwestern outskirts of Nantong's urban core. Construction work is expected to start in 2013.[8]
References
- ^ 宁启铁路复线电气化工程今年建成年底正式通车运营 (The length of the double-track and electrification project is 268.3 km.) Template:Zh icon
- ^ 火车东站综合交通枢纽工程勘察设计总承包 (Nantong East station expected to begin operation with second phase of Ningqi railway).
- ^ 宁启铁路明年底改造完工; 南通至南京仅需两小时 (Ning–Qi railway upgrade to be completed by the end of the next year. Nantong to Nanjing in 2 hours.) 江海明珠网, 2013-10-27
- ^ 宁启铁路复线明年完工 南通到南京1小时50分钟 (Double-tracking of the Qi–Ning railway will be completed by the end of the next year. Nantong to Nanjing in 1 hour 50 min), 2013-11-13
- ^ "宁启铁路14对动车昨上线试跑" (in Chinese). 南京日报. May 7, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
- ^ "开通时间敲定 宁启动车周日开跑" (in Chinese). 新华日报. May 10, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ^ http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/chinese-rail-projects-approved.html
- ^ 沪通铁路2013年正式开建 南通到上海仅需一小时 (Construction work on the Hu–Tong railway will officially start in 2013. It will take just an hour to travel from Nantong to Shanghai), 2012-12-24, Template:Zh icon
