Recently, China Railway First Institute won the bid for the new Yining-Akesu railway survey and design project, which is the icing on the cake for the end of the "13th Five-Year Plan".

The newly built Yining-Akesu Railway is located in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, Bayinguo Leng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture and Aksu Region in the western part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The total length of the line is 654.03 kilometers, of which the Yining-Bulekai section uses the Jingyi-Huo Railway 43.6 kilometers, the newly built line from Buleyke to Kutaiklik is 313.96 kilometers long, and the Kutaiklik-Kuqa West Section is rebuilt The Kuqa-Russian Railway is 68.77 kilometers, and the Kuqa-Akesu section uses the Southern Xinjiang Railway for 227.7 kilometers.

New Yining-Akesu railway plan changes

According to the original pre-feasibility study route plan (West route), the route is drawn from the Jinghe section of the Jinghuo Railway Buliekai Station in Yili Prefecture, and crosses the Kashi River and Yili River to the south and enters Wusun Mountain. The tunnel is 19.9 kilometers long. After crossing Wusun Mountain to the 73rd Regiment of the Fourth Division and Turks County, cross the Turks River to the south and enter the South Tianshan along the Kuokesu River, passing through the Tianshan Mountains in Vietnam through a 21.8-kilometer tunnel; Enter the Yangtak Kuduke Station of the Southern Xinjiang Railway in the Aksu area.

The total length of the line is about 500.5 kilometers. The existing Nanjiang Railway is 110 kilometers. The newly-built line is 346.88 kilometers long. The counties (cities) passing through mainly include Yining, Gongliu and Tekes County, Baicheng County, Xinhe County, the 73rd Regiment of the Fourth Division of the Corps, including 195 kilometers in Yili Prefecture and 151 kilometers in Aksu area.

On May 25, 2020, China Railway Group issued the "Announcement of Tendering for the New Yining-Akesu Railway Survey and Design Project", and the project was officially put on the construction agenda.

The latest feasibility study route plan (Eastern Route) passes through the Bayinbuluk Tourist Area in Gongliu County, Xinyuan County, and Hejing County, and then passes through the South Tianshan Mountains to connect to the Ku-Russian Railway, and uses the Nanjiang Railway to Aksu, no longer passing through Turks County, Zhaosu County and Baicheng County. There are 21 new stations on the whole line.

Compared with the western route, the Yining-Akesu railway operating mileage is increased by about 154 kilometers in the eastern route plan, but the newly built mileage is shortened by about 33 kilometers, and the investment is greatly reduced; and the route is connected to the Nanjiang Railway in Kuqa, an important town in southern Xinjiang, with a wider coverage. The radiation population is larger, and more importantly, it can drive the rapid development of tourism in Xinyuan County, Hejing County and the surrounding areas.

There are a number of national 5A-level and 4A-level tourist attractions and national nature reserves, such as Bayinbulak, Gongnaisi, Nalati, Kalajun, Qiaoerma, Dalongchi, West Tianshan, etc. along the railway line. The completion of the railway Will further promote the development of Xinjiang's overall tourist routes.

The Yining-Akesu railway project connects the Jingyihuo Line and the Southern Xinjiang Line in the road network, and is an important component of the railway passage along the western border; it directly connects the northern and southern Xinjiang regions and can form a convenient railway transportation channel between the northern and southern Xinjiang. The history of the exchanges between North and South Xinjiang via Turpan. The travel time from Yining, the pearl of northern Xinjiang, to Aksu, a major town in southern Xinjiang, has been shortened from the current 17 hours to about 5.3 hours, and the transportation distance has been significantly reduced from the current 1,600 kilometers to more than 600 kilometers.

In the future, the construction of the Iran-Israel Railway will be of positive significance for further improving the layout of the western road network, strengthening the security barrier in the northwest of the motherland, promoting border opening and land development, and consolidating the results of poverty alleviation. Editor/He Yuting