At 5:30 am on August 18, 2026, as the G55103 test high-speed train slowly departed from Yichang North Station and headed towards Xingshan Station along the newly built Yichang Xingshan High speed Railway (referred to as Yixing High speed Railway) for train operation diagram parameter testing, it marked the official transition of Yixing High speed Railway from the joint debugging and testing stage to the operational testing stage, and the countdown to the full line's opening and operation began.

The Yixing high-speed railway has a total length of 108.38 kilometers and a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It starts from Yichang East Station and ends at Xingshan Station, connecting to the Zhengzhou Chongqing high-speed railway. The trial operation of Yixing High speed Railway will strictly refer to the actual operating standards, carry out tests on train operation diagram parameters, fault simulation, emergency rescue drills, and train operation tests according to the diagram, simulate the official operation status of the line, comprehensively verify the transportation organization, train reception and departure, operation density, and compatibility of various systems, and provide scientific basis for the official opening and operation of the line.

After the full line is put into operation, the travel time from Xingshan to Yichang will be reduced from 2 hours to about 20 minutes, the travel time from Yichang to Chongqing is expected to be shortened to about 3 hours, and the shortest travel time from Wuhan to Chongqing is expected to be reduced to about 4 hours. The Shanghai Chongqing Chengdu Yangtze River High speed Railway and the Zhengzhou Chongqing High speed Railway will intersect and interconnect at Xingshan, which is of great significance for opening up the Wuhan westward expressway and injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Editor/Yang Meiling