The high-speed rail flies on an east-west track, passing through the center of the basin, but never slows down - because there are no stations. The residents of Santai, Shehong, and Anju in the central part of Sichuan Province are guarding the railway lines that run through them, but they have never been able to wait for a stopping train.

This situation lasted for too long until the mechanical roar of Suining High tech Station sounded on July 30, 2026, and the Suining Neijiang section of the Mianyang Suining Zinei Railway officially started construction. Santai, Shehong, and Anju counties and districts have their own high-speed railway stations for the first time. The 244 kilometer route connects Mianyang, Suining, Ziyang, and Neijiang from scattered points on the map into a longitudinal line.

Complete the entire line by 2030

The project is planned and designed in one go, and constructed in stages and segments. The northern section from Mianyang to Suining has started construction in August 2024, with a total length of 136.2 kilometers, and is planned to be opened to traffic in March 2029. As of the end of June 2026, an investment of 14.83 billion yuan has been completed, all three key and difficult continuous beams have been closed, the first box girder has been erected, and the Fuluowan Tunnel has been completed.

The southern section from Suining to Neijiang is 107.8 kilometers long, with an estimated total investment of 20.883 billion yuan, and is planned to be completed by July 2030. The initial land use of 775.68 acres in the Suinei section has been approved, and 139 bridges and 20 tunnels will be built along the line. Suining High tech Station and Anyue Station will utilize the under construction stations, while Anju New Station will be compressed from the planned distance of 6 kilometers from the main urban area to 3 kilometers, resulting in an additional investment of 50 million yuan.

The breaking pen of the collapse in the central part of Chengdu and Chongqing

The dual city economic circle in the Chengdu Chongqing region has long had a pattern of large at both ends and small in the middle - the total economic output of Chengdu and Chongqing's main cities accounts for more than half, while the central region is clearly depressed. The transportation gap is an important reason: the north-south railways in the central Sichuan region have been sparse for a long time, while the east-west high-speed railways are dense, and the longitudinal channels are almost blank.

What will this high-speed railway with a speed of 250 kilometers per hour change? Mianyang, Suining, Ziyang, and Neijiang will achieve a one hour commute, ending the history of no railway connection in Santai County, Shehong City, and Anju District.

For Shehong, as the largest lithium battery material production base in Sichuan and Chongqing, the railway will directly serve industrial and commercial docking. The line will connect to the Xicheng Passenger Dedicated Line in Mianyang and lead directly to North China, connect to the Chengdu Dawan High speed Railway in Suining, connect to the Chengdu Chongqing Middle Line High speed Railway in Anyue, and connect to the Mianyang Luzhou High speed Railway in Neijiang, forming a fast passenger transport corridor connecting northwest and south Sichuan. Keywords: infrastructure transportation, Chengdu Chongqing high-speed railway

When the hinterland of central Sichuan is no longer bypassed by railway lines, the economic connection between Chengdu and Chongqing will truly have a hard connection foundation.Editor/Cheng Liting