On February 7, 2026, the Development and Reform Commission of Jiujiang City issued the "Competitive Consultation Announcement for the Preliminary Research Project of Jiujiang Chizhou Railway", which clearly initiated the pre feasibility study of Jiujiang Chizhou Railway with a budget of 900000 yuan. The job responsibilities include completing the preparation of the pre feasibility study report for the Jiuchi Railway and assisting in project review and other related tasks.

This news marks the beginning of the substantive promotion stage of the long-term preparation for the Chi Jiu high-speed railway, and presses the "acceleration key" for the construction of this new high-speed railway artery along the Yangtze River that connects Anhui and Jiangxi provinces on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

As an important project in the national medium and long-term railway network planning, the core planning of the Chijiu high-speed railway has gradually become clear. According to the bidding documents, the route starts from Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province in the west, passes through Hukou County and Pengze County in Jiujiang City, extends eastward to counties and Shitai County in Chizhou City, Anhui Province, and ends in the urban area of Chizhou City. The total length of the line is 202 kilometers, of which about 90 kilometers are within the territory of Jiujiang City. According to the previous research plan, the project is planned to be a high-speed railway standard with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, and the total investment is expected to exceed 30 billion yuan. It will be connected to the Ning'an Passenger Dedicated Line Chizhou Station and the Hechi High speed Railway Chizhou East Station at the Chizhou hub. However, from the perspective of the matching of the connected road network, the adjacent Ning'an, Wujiu and Changjiu passenger dedicated lines are all 250 km/h, so it is expected that the approval of 250 km/h is more likely.

The main reason is that due to the strict control of the national policy on the construction of existing parallel high-speed rail lines, the current utilization rate of trains on the Anqing to Jiujiang section of the Beijing Hong Kong high-speed rail is insufficient, and there will be room for an increase in traffic volume only after the entire Beijing Hong Kong corridor is completed; Secondly, the project needs to be included in the national "15th Five Year Plan" for railway development and a new round of medium and long-term planning in order to receive support from higher-level policies. Currently, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces are jointly striving for planning quotas.

The significance of the Chijiu high-speed railway goes far beyond shortening the time and space distance between Chizhou and Jiujiang. By connecting the Hechi and Chihuang high-speed railways, a vertical channel of "Hefei Chizhou Jiujiang" will be formed in the future, further enhancing the regional transportation node status of Chizhou and ending the history of no direct high-speed railway from various counties and cities along the line to Hefei.Editor/Cheng Liting