Deep in the Tianshan Mountains, a steel giant dragon slowly rotates its blade and forcefully gnaws through a passage in the rock layers that have been silent for billions of years. This is not simply digging a hole, but a crucial battle to open up the Ren Du's two veins in Xinjiang - the distance between northern and southern Xinjiang is being gradually reduced by this 18 kilometer long tunnel.

On October 15, 2026 at 18:00, the core control project of the Xinjiang Yi'a Railway, Tianshan Hejing Tunnel, started tunnel construction, marking a critical milestone for the national key railway project. To achieve a good start to the 15th Five Year Plan, the railway department in Xinjiang has implemented various deployments, continuously improved the layout of the regional railway network, promoted key projects, and enhanced the ability to guarantee passenger and freight transportation.

Build a solid foundation for construction

The Yia Railway connects multiple main lines and is an important part of the western border railway corridor. The initial construction of the entire line will begin in June 2026. The Tianshan Hejing Tunnel is located in the hinterland of the southern Tianshan Mountains, with a total length of 18.92 kilometers and an altitude of 2400 to 2800 meters. It crosses multiple fault zones and has complex geological conditions, making it a key project to control the construction period of the entire line.

Establish a special team for the project, optimize the construction plan, detect geology, identify safety hazards, complete site, equipment, technical training and other preparations for entering the tunnel, and ensure safe construction of the tunnel.

Smooth the north-south passage

The Tianshan Hejing Tunnel is a throat project along the entire line, and it is the only one that uses a large tunnel boring machine combined with drilling and blasting methods for construction. The excavation equipment can synchronously complete excavation, slag removal, and support, and is suitable for high-altitude complex formations, with higher construction efficiency and safety. The construction team will steadily advance tunnel excavation.

The tunnel entrance laid the foundation for the timely opening of the Yia Railway. After the project is put into use, the distance between the north and south of Xinjiang will be reduced to 800 kilometers, with a travel time of about 8 hours. This will reduce logistics costs, drive the export of agricultural, animal husbandry, industrial and mining products, promote cultural and tourism development, facilitate factor circulation, and help regional development and rural revitalization. Keywords: Yia Railway, Railway, Xinjiang

The implementation of the Yi'a Railway aims to further improve the regional railway network and contribute to the construction of a comprehensive transportation hub in Xinjiang. In recent years, Xinjiang railways have continued to expand their capacity and transportation indicators have improved. From January to September 2026, the volume of passenger transportation, coal transportation from Xinjiang, port freight transportation, and China Europe Central Asia freight trains will all experience growth. On October 10, 2026, the freight volume exceeded 200 million tons ahead of schedule, with multiple data reaching historical highs.Editor/Gong Ziwei