On April 15, 2026, the Hubei section of the new Beijing Hong Kong high-speed railway from Fuyang to Huanggang officially released the bidding announcement for construction drawing review. The release of this critical milestone marks the final sprint stage of the project before construction begins, following the completion of the feasibility study approval by the National Development and Reform Commission. As an important puzzle of the national railway network's eight vertical and eight horizontal Beijing Hong Kong Taiwan corridor, the Fuhuang high-speed railway is expected to officially start construction before the end of 2025, with a total construction period of 4 years.

The arrow to start construction within the year is on the string

The launch of this bidding means that after the Anhui section, the Hubei section is about to complete the final review of construction drawing design. According to the deployment of China Railway Group and Hubei Province, the completion of construction drawing review will directly trigger the construction bidding process. Rapid progress in the early stages of the project: from the launch of survey and design in September 2020 to the pre feasibility study review in July 2025, and obtaining the feasibility study approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC Foundation [2025] No. 1729) by the end of December of the same year, the approval process was efficiently closed in a short period of time. The tenderer is Wuhan Jiujiang Railway Passenger Dedicated Line Hubei Co., Ltd. The construction funds consist of China Railway Group, investment from Hubei Province, and domestic bank loans, with capital accounting for 50%.

High standard infrastructure investment

The main line of the Fuhuang high-speed railway is 318.1 kilometers long, with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour and a bridge tunnel ratio of 76.6%. The entire line has 9 stations. The main line of the Hubei section is 131.62 kilometers long, with four stations located in Hong'an, Machengxi, Wuhan Xinzhou, and Huangzhou, with a bridge tunnel ratio of 66.39%. The total investment estimate for the project is 52.12 billion yuan, with an investment of approximately 23.96 billion yuan in the Hubei section.

In terms of technical standards, the main line adopts ballastless track and CTCS-3 level train control system, with a minimum running interval compressed to 3 minutes. In addition, the project also includes the Macheng West Link Line (160 kilometers per hour) and the Zhuogang to Anjiu Huangmei South Link Line (200 kilometers per hour) to achieve efficient connection with existing lines. Keywords: railway transportation, infrastructure

After the completion of this line, it will fill the gap in high-speed rail in the revolutionary old areas of the Dabie Mountains, and significantly shorten the time and space distance between northern Anhui, southern Henan, Wuhan, and the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area by connecting the Shanghe Hangzhou high-speed railway and the Huanghuang railway. It has strategic significance for promoting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration and the Yangtze River Delta.Editor/Cheng Liting