The Wuhan-Shiyan High-Speed Railway, surveyed and designed by the Fourth Survey and Design Institute of China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and constructed with the participation of the 11th Bureau Group, began construction along its entire line on December 2.
The Wuhan-Shiyan High-Speed Railway is the first mega railway project led by Hubei Province in implementing the requirements of the national railway investment system reform. The project has registered capital of 26.3 billion yuan, with Hubei Province and China Railway Corporation bearing 80% and 20% respectively. CRCC participated in the investment and construction as social capital through an engineering-for-investment approach. The project's financing and operating model has important demonstration significance for the reform of investment and financing in railway construction.
The Wuhan-Shiyan High-Speed Railway is 399 kilometers long and designed for a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, with high technical standards. After the project is completed, the travel time from Wuhan to Shiyan will be reduced by at least 50% compared with the present, with the fastest full journey taking only 1 hour and 50 minutes, directly benefiting nearly 30 million people in Wuhan, Xiaogan, Suizhou, Xiangyang, Shiyan and other places along the line.
Nationwide, as part of the Wuhan-Xi'an High-Speed Railway and serving national strategies such as the "Belt and Road" and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Wuhan-Shiyan High-Speed Railway is the most convenient and fastest major artery from the northwest region to central China and the southeast coastal region. After the project is completed, through connections with other corridors, Hubei Province, especially western Hubei, will form more efficient and convenient links with the country's major economic regions and with cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi'an.