As soon as the exploration vehicle in the depth of the Gobi has completed the resurvey of the last section of the line, the bidding announcement for the review of construction drawings of Naomaohu wutong Water Railway will be officially released on September 18, 2026. The feasibility study of this western heavy-duty trunk line, with a total investment of 11.353 billion yuan, has been officially approved and is expected to start construction by the end of the year. The key bottleneck of the northern wing channel for transporting coal from Xinjiang is about to be cleared.

244 kilometer double track heavy-duty line landing

The project starts from Bulak Station of Jiangnao Railway and ends at wutong Water Station of Linha Railway. The total length of the line is 244.1 km, and the bridge tunnel ratio is only 5.6%. The whole line is constructed according to the standard of double track heavy haul railway. The traction mass can reach 10000 tons by electric traction. Among them, 26.9 kilometers of second track will be added along the Jiangnao Railway, 139.7 kilometers of second track will be added along the Hongnao Railway, 77.5 kilometers of new double track will be built, and a total of 10 stations will be set up along the entire line. A new Naomaohu South Technical Operation Station will be built, with a dedicated 10000 ton train combination and decomposition line.

This construction drawing review bidding is divided into one section, with a maximum bid limit of 7 million yuan. The service period is until December 30, 2028, covering the entire process of technical services from design verification to completion acceptance. The project capital accounts for 45%, with the remaining 55% raised through bank loans. The construction period is 2 years, and it is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2028.

The northern wing channel for transporting coal from Xinjiang has been fully accelerated

The Naowu Railway is the core section of the national Xinjiang coal transportation network, with one axis, two wings, and multiple connections in the northern wing. After completion, it will be integrated with the construction of a second line on the Naowu Railway, the electrification transformation of the Hongnao Railway, and the expansion project of the Linha Railway, forming a double line electrified heavy-duty passage from Jiangjun Temple in the west to Linhe in the east. The annual designed transportation capacity of the passage will exceed 200 million tons.

At present, 5 stations have been opened for operation on the 392.4-kilometer additional line of the Nao Railway. The section of the Hongnao Railway from Turaergen to Baishi Hunan has been included in the Linha backbone channel management system, and the electrification renovation of the entire line was put into operation as early as September 2024. With the start of construction of the Naowu Railway, the collection and distribution network of the northern wing railway in Xinjiang will be completely connected, and the distance for coal transportation in eastern Xinjiang will be further shortened. The transportation chassis for ensuring energy supply in the northwest will become more stable. Keywords: railway transportation, infrastructure

At the moment when the ten thousand ton train passes through the Linha Railway on the Gobi Desert, this new line will directly deliver the coal resources in the hinterland of Xinjiang to the energy consumption market in North China. The transportation capacity gap of the western road network is being gradually filled.Editor/Cheng Liting