In the grand narrative of regional economic coordinated development, the smoothness and upgrading of transportation arteries have always been key variables.

On March 24, 2026, key progress was made in the construction of the Nanyang Xinyang Hefei railway, which carries the hope of the rise of the central region and connects the revolutionary old areas of the Dabie Mountains. This high-speed railway line is accelerating from planning to reality with a vigorous momentum.

The blueprint for high-speed rail is slowly unfolding

The significance of the Nanyang Xinyang Hefei railway is extraordinary. It is a key component of the Ningxi high-speed railway corridor, an important connecting line of the national eight vertical and eight horizontal high-speed railway main channels, and an important auxiliary channel of the Yangtze River high-speed railway. It has been included in the national 14th Five Year Railway planning and research construction project.

The total length of the main line is 515 kilometers, including 390 kilometers of newly built lines, utilizing the 125 kilometer section of the under construction high-speed railway from Hefei to Wuhan along the Yangtze River, with a total investment of approximately 68.1 billion yuan. The project started the preliminary work of survey and design in 2022, passed the pre feasibility study review of China Railway Group in May 2024, passed the feasibility study review in September 2025, and passed the project proposal evaluation and industry review of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Railway Administration on January 6, 2026. The feasibility study entered the approval stage, and every step was solid and steady.

According to the feasibility study plan, the line starts from Nanyang East Station of Zhengyu High speed Railway, passes through many places in Henan, passes through the border between Henan and Anhui provinces, and ends at Jinzhai County in Lu'an City, connecting to Jinzhai East Station of the under construction Hewu High speed Railway. At the same time, multiple connecting lines are also planned and constructed to achieve communication with the Beijing Guangzhou high-speed railway, the existing Hewu railway, and the under construction Liuqing railway. There are 11 stations along the entire line, with a design speed target of 350 kilometers per hour and a planned construction period of 4 years.

Regional development welcomes new opportunities

The construction of this railway will have multiple positive impacts. It is connected to multiple lines such as the Zhengzhou Chongqing high-speed railway in the west and the planned Nanyang Shiyan Ankang high-speed railway. At the east end, it is connected to the Hefei hub through the under construction Shanghai Chongqing Chengdu high-speed railway and the existing Hewu railway, building an important passage that connects the revolutionary old areas of the Dabie Mountains, connects the east and west, and connects the north and south.

After the completion of the project, the history of no horizontal high-speed railway in southern Henan will be ended, and eight counties including Tanghe and Biyang in the revolutionary old areas of Dabie Mountains will be connected to high-speed railways for the first time. The high-speed trains from Nanyang and Xinyang to Shanghai no longer need to detour around Zhengzhou and Wuhan, and the time can be shortened by about 2 hours; Nanyang can directly head south to Guangzhou at Xinyang East Station, reducing the time to about 5 hours. Keywords: infrastructure, railway transportation

The construction of the Nanyang Xinyang Hefei railway is an important milestone in the upgrading of transportation infrastructure in the central region. With the continuous progress of the project, this high-speed railway line is expected to be completed and opened to traffic as soon as possible.Editor/Cheng Liting