Recently, the Hubei Province Electronic Tendering and Bidding Trading Platform released a pre qualification announcement for the construction and supervision of the new Yichang Changde Railway (Hubei section), marking the official start of construction bidding for this high-speed railway that carries the expectations of the people of Hunan and Hubei provinces. According to the bidding documents, the Hubei section of Yichang Railway is planned to start construction at the end of December this year, with a total construction period of 4 years. It is expected to be completed and opened to traffic by the end of December 2029. At the same time, Hunan Rail Transit Group revealed that the preliminary design approval for the project is imminent, laying a solid foundation for achieving the goal of starting construction within the year.

The Yichang Railway is an important component of the Hohhot Nanjing High Speed Railway (Hohhot to Nanning) in the "Eight Verticals and Eight Horizontals" high-speed railway main channel of the national "Medium and Long Term Railway Network Plan". The total length of the line is 234.4 kilometers, including 136.3 kilometers in Hubei and 98.1 kilometers in Hunan, with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The project passes through Changyang Tujia Autonomous County, Yidu City, and Songzi City in Hubei Province, and passes through Lixian County, Linli County, Dingcheng District, and Wuling District in Hunan Province. The entire line has 7 stations, including Yichang North Station, Changyang East Station, Yidu Station, and Songzi West Station in Hubei Province, as well as 3 Hunan stations in Lixian West Station, Linli East Station, and Changde Station.

The main line of the Hunan South Railway is about 2300 kilometers long and is another major transportation artery that runs through the north and south of China. The Yichang Railway, as the first section of the Hunan Hunan Hunan High Speed Railway, will seamlessly connect with the already operational Changyi Changsha Railway, the planned Yilou Railway, the already operational Loushao Railway, and the under construction Shaoyong Railway upon completion. Ultimately, it will travel south to Guangxi via the Hunan Guangxi High Speed Railway. At that time, the travel time from Yichang to Changde will be shortened to about 1.5 hours, and Lixian and Linli will enter the era of high-speed rail for the first time, forming a high-speed rail transportation circle that takes half an hour to Yichang and one hour to Changsha. Keywords: Traffic News

The construction of this railway will greatly enhance the transportation location advantage of the northwest region of Hunan. As the gateway hub of Xiangxi North, Changde will be connected to the Huanan Corridor through the Yichang Railway and the Yuxia Railway Corridor, further consolidating its position as a node in the national high-speed rail network. For Lixian and Linli, the opening of high-speed rail will completely change their transportation pattern, making them important transportation nodes on the Hunan Hubei border and injecting strong impetus into the economic development of the county.Editor/Cheng Liting