In the Youyang Laozhai deep in the Wuling Mountains, seventy year old Tujia elder Tian Ajjust was worried as he flipped through the yellowed train timetable. To visit my grandson who is working outside in Changsha, I have to take a slow train to Qianjiang first, and then take a detour on the Guizhou Zhangchang Railway or the Shanghai Kunming High speed Railway, which will take at least 5 hours or more on the way. The mountains are high and the roads are far, becoming an invisible wall between the wanderer and his hometown. But the wall is about to be chiseled open. With the approval of the feasibility study report for the Qianjiang Jishou railway by the National Development and Reform Commission, a steel dragon with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour is about to cross mountains and valleys, tightly linking southeast Chongqing and western Hunan. The timetable in Tian Agung's heart is finally about to turn a new page.

Complete the key puzzle of the channel

The Guizhou Jilin high-speed railway is a key component of the national Chongqing Xiamen high-speed railway corridor, and also a fast passenger transport corridor connecting Chengdu Chongqing to the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. The line starts from Qianjiang Station in Chongqing, passes through Youyang, Xiushan, Huayuan, Baojing, Jishou and other places in Xiangxi Prefecture, Hunan, and ends at Jishou East Station of Zhangjihuai High speed Railway. The total length of the line is about 222 kilometers, with a total of 5 stations, including 3 new stations in Youyangxi, Xiushanbei, and Huayuan, with a total approved investment of 43.36 billion yuan. The project fully meets the pre construction conditions and will become the fifth under construction high-speed railway in Hunan after the Changgan, Shaoyong, Yichang, and Tongji high-speed railways. The Hunan section has a mileage of about 71.8 kilometers and an investment of about 14.68 billion yuan.

Technological breakthroughs through mountains and valleys

This high-speed railway is not easy to repair. It passes through the core area of Wuling Mountain karst landform, with high mountains, deep valleys, and extremely complex geology along the way. The bridge tunnel ratio is as high as about 95%, which puts extremely high demands on engineering technology and strict adherence to environmental protection standards for ecologically sensitive areas. Nevertheless, the speed has not been reduced, and the entire line still adheres to the standard of 350 kilometers per hour. The plan is to commence construction within 2026, with a construction period of 5 years. At present, the preliminary design review and construction drawing design are progressing, and it is expected to break ground within the year. The builders will gnaw on this hard bone in the deep valley of the cliff.

Significant compression of spatiotemporal distance

The current Chongqing Changsha railway requires detours, which generally take more than 5 hours. After the completion of the Guizhou Jilin high-speed railway, the operating time will be significantly reduced to less than 4 hours, and Chongqing to Guangzhou is also expected to be reduced to less than 5 hours. The linkage between Chengdu Chongqing, Changsha Zhuzhou Xiangtan, Guangdong Hong Kong Macao will be more efficient.keywords:Engineering infrastructure

 It not only facilitates the economic channels between Southwest China, Central China, and South China, but also activates the ecological, cultural, tourism, and characteristic industrial resources of Wuling Mountain area, helping to consolidate poverty alleviation achievements and rural revitalization along the route. For Grandpa Tian, in the future, when they leave the mountains and their descendants return home, they will be brought closer by this high-speed railway.Editor/Yang Meiling