On October 24, 2025, the first environmental impact assessment information of the newly built Qianjiang Jishou Railway was officially released on the website of the Development and Reform Commission of Xiangxi Prefecture, marking the countdown to the start of this cross provincial high-speed railway project with a total investment of 45.43 billion yuan. According to the promotion plan, the project is expected to break ground by the end of 2026 and achieve operation by 2030. As a key section of the Chongqing Hunan high-speed railway and an important node of the national "Eight Verticals and Eight Horizontals" high-speed railway network, its public announcement and implementation is not only an important breakthrough in the transportation construction of the central and western regions, but also will inject strong momentum into the development of the Wuling mountainous area.

Project core: A "super project" that connects Chongqing and Hunan at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour

The geographical span of the Qianji High speed Railway covers two major regions: southeastern Chongqing and western Hunan. The line starts from Qianjiang District in Chongqing, passes through Youyang and Xiushan counties in the east, enters Hunan Province, passes through Huayuan and Baojing counties, and ends at Jishou City. The total length of the newly built main line is about 221.9 kilometers, including 152.6 kilometers in Chongqing and 71.6 kilometers in Hunan. The total investment is 30.93 billion yuan in Chongqing and 14.5 billion yuan in Hunan. The line adopts a high-speed railway design standard of 350 kilometers per hour, connecting the under construction Chongqing Qianjiang Railway to the west and the already open Zhangjiajie Jishou Huaihua Railway to the east, forming a seamless high-speed railway network.

In terms of station layout, the project adopts a combination of "new construction+existing" mode, with a total of 5 stations along the entire line, including 3 new stations: Youyang West Station, Xiushan North Station, and Huayuan Station, which connect to the existing Qianjiang Station and Jishou East Station. It is worth noting that although Baojing County does not have a station, it can reach Huayuan Station within 30 minutes through existing roads. In the future, there are plans to build a fast track to shorten the travel time to 15 minutes and achieve full coverage of county-level transportation.

The engineering construction will face the complex challenges of the core area of the Wuling Mountains. The route passes through karst landforms, with prominent geological risks such as karst and landslides. The bridge tunnel ratio is as high as 94.8% - only 5.2 kilometers per 100 kilometers is the roadbed, and the rest are bridges and tunnels. The longest tunnel in the Chongqing section is 13.7 kilometers, equivalent to the length of 15 football fields, and can be regarded as a "model of high-speed railway construction in mountainous areas". At present, the preliminary review of project construction land has been fully approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources, clearing key obstacles for subsequent construction.

Strategic Value: Connecting the "Golden Channel" from Southwest China to the Bay Area

As the core component of the Chongqing Xiamen Corridor and a key link in the high-speed passenger transport corridor from Chengdu Chongqing to the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, the construction of the Guizhou Jilin High speed Railway has multiple milestone significance. At the transportation level, after the completion of the project, a high-speed railway corridor with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour will be opened up from Chongqing to Changsha, completely changing the previous situation of detours. The travel time from Youyang to the central urban area of Chongqing can be shortened from the current 4.5 hours to about 1 hour, and the spatial and temporal distance between Chongqing and Changsha will also be greatly compressed.

For the Wuling Mountain area, this high-speed railway will become an accelerator for rural revitalization. The tourism resources along the line, such as Youyang Peach Blossom Spring, Xiushan Border Town, and Huayuan Tea Cave, will be included in the high-speed rail economic circle. It is expected that the annual tourist volume in Youyang will increase by more than 40%, driving the upgrading of cultural and tourism industries and characteristic agriculture. At the same time, during the construction period, it will drive the development of related industries such as construction, building materials, and logistics, create a large number of job opportunities, and accelerate the flow of factors between Chongqing and Hunan after its opening, helping underdeveloped areas such as southeastern Chongqing and western Hunan to integrate into the overall regional development.

From the perspective of the National Road Grid Bureau, the Guizhou Jilin high-speed railway will improve the closed-loop network of the central and western high-speed railways, strengthen the connection between the Chengdu Chongqing dual city economic circle and the Changsha Zhuzhou Xiangtan urban agglomeration, as well as the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, and provide transportation support for regional coordinated development.

With the progress of environmental impact assessment report preparation and the implementation of the construction approval process, this "steel dragon" crossing the Wuling Mountains is on the verge of collapse. In the future, an investment of 45.43 billion yuan will not only build a physical channel, but also become an economic artery connecting Southwest and South China, injecting lasting momentum into the high-quality development of the central and western regions.Editor/Bian Wenjun