One is the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway
　　The other is the Shanghai-Ningbo Intercity Railway
　　The Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway aims to start construction during the 13th Five-Year Plan period
　　With a speed of 350 km/h, Ningbo to Shanghai reachable within 1 hour
　　The Hangzhou Bay Bridge has shortened the distance between Ningbo and Shanghai, creating a sea-crossing expressway corridor. But Ningbo residents have long hoped for a high-speed rail link across Hangzhou Bay that directly connects to Shanghai without going through the Hangzhou hub. That dream will soon come true. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, two more cross-sea railways will be built over Hangzhou Bay. One is the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway, and the other is the Shanghai-Ningbo Intercity Railway. Among them, the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway is expected to start construction during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.
　　On the 3rd, good news came from the Ningbo Railway Construction Headquarters: the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway has now entered the scheme research stage, and two alternative plans have been released to the public for the first time. Once completed, a 350 km/h high-speed railway will be built across Hangzhou Bay, and the fastest high-speed train from Ningbo to Shanghai will take only 51 minutes.
　　A dream come true
　　After the Hangzhou Bay Bridge
　　Two more railway bridges will be built over Hangzhou Bay
　　Hangzhou Bay, this unparalleled trumpet-shaped estuary, separates Ningbo and Shanghai by sea.
　　The straight-line distance between Shanghai and Ningbo is only about 200 kilometers, but initially trains had to detour via Hangzhou, making the actual travel distance nearly 400 kilometers. Traveling from Ningbo to Shanghai took four to five hours one way, making a same-day round trip quite strenuous.
　　On May 1, 2008, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge was completed and opened to traffic. Although only 36 kilometers long, it created a sea-crossing expressway corridor between Shanghai and Ningbo, shortening the travel time between the two cities to the current more than 2 hours.
　　However, at that time, Ningbo did not adopt a combined railway and highway construction model like the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge. Currently, all trains to Shanghai, whether conventional or high-speed, without exception, must detour via Hangzhou, greatly increasing travel time.
　　"Now there is already a highway corridor across Hangzhou Bay, and there is an urgent need to open up a major railway corridor. This is what Ningbo people have been hoping for. Over the years, relevant Ningbo departments have been actively promoting the preliminary work of the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway project," said a responsible person from the Ningbo Railway Construction Headquarters yesterday. Actually, Ningbo started relevant project research long ago, but in recent years, due to various reasons, project progress has been affected.
　　Recently, Ningbo's railway construction goals for the 13th Five-Year Plan were finalized, with a total investment of about 25 billion yuan, focusing on the construction of "6 lines and 1 hub."
　　Observant citizens may have noticed that in the future, two more cross-sea railway bridges will be built over Hangzhou Bay. One is the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway (Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing-Ningbo), which is part of the national coastal railway; the other is the Shanghai-Ningbo Intercity Railway. The Shanghai-Ningbo Intercity Railway needs further study during the 13th Five-Year Plan period and aims to be approved as soon as possible, while the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway is expected to start construction during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. This means that the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway that citizens have been eagerly anticipating will soon move from blueprint to reality.
　　Professor Zhang Huifang of Ningbo University believes that if a direct railway line from Ningbo to Shanghai is built, the travel time between the two cities will be less than 1 hour. At that time, the regional relationship between Shanghai and Ningbo will undergo major changes. This will have a huge impact on Ningbo's regional positioning and industrial development positioning.
　　What are the plans?
　　The Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway has two plans
　　One connects to Jiaxing, the other to Jinshan
　　A responsible person from the Ningbo Railway Construction Headquarters revealed to reporters that, considering various factors, the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway currently has two main construction plans.
　　Both plans run from the planned Ningbo West Railway Station (temporarily connecting to the current Ningbo Railway Station) to the current Shanghai Hongqiao Station, but the routes differ: the first crosses the sea via Jiaxing, and the second directly connects to Shanghai Jinshan. The Ningbo West Station mentioned here refers to a new railway station that Ningbo will build in the future—Ningbo West Station.
　　The two plans are as follows:
　　1: Jiaxing connection plan, total length 125 kilometers (including 18 kilometers across the sea), with a full journey time of about 51 minutes after completion, with an estimated investment of 19.938 billion yuan;
　　2: Jinshan connection plan, total length 100 kilometers (including 54 kilometers across the sea), with a full journey time of about 52 minutes, with an estimated investment of 29.835 billion yuan.
　　Due to factors such as the long cross-sea bridge and the inability to increase speed, the actual travel time to Shanghai Hongqiao Hub is almost the same for both plans. The travel time between Shanghai and Ningbo can be shortened to less than 1 hour, saving more than half compared to the current road travel time.
　　Industry insiders from the railway department said that after the major railway corridor from Ningbo to Shanghai is opened, the train operation plan from Ningbo to Shanghai will be adjusted, the travel time between the two cities will be greatly shortened, and ticket prices may be reduced.
　　Which plan is more suitable?
　　Experts recommend the Jiaxing connection plan
　　It can accommodate high-speed trains at 350 km/h
　　Which of the two plans is more suitable?
　　The reporter learned that at the recent consultation meeting on Ningbo's external railway corridors during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the expert group unanimously recommended the Jiaxing connection cross-Hangzhou Bay passenger dedicated line plan. They believe that this plan has strong feasibility and operability, and relatively mature conditions.
　　In terms of investment, the Jiaxing plan can save about 10 billion yuan compared to the Jinshan plan, and the length of the sea bridge is only 30% of the Jinshan plan, so the construction and operation risks are relatively smaller.
　　Although the Jinshan plan reduces the total mileage by 52.5 kilometers, due to the low speed level of the railway from Jinshan to downtown Shanghai (the Jinshan Railway is a suburban railway with a speed of 120 to 160 km/h), the construction standards and speed level of the project will be affected.
　　At the meeting, experts all agreed that, apart from the technical limitations of the cross-sea bridge, the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway is more suitable to be designed as a 350 km/h high-speed passenger dedicated line. Because after completion, the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway will reserve connection conditions with the Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou passenger dedicated lines, and the Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing Railway has already entered the preliminary promotion stage, with the most mature conditions. Passengers between the two cities have a clear characteristic: they have high requirements for travel time and are not sensitive to cost; from the freight perspective, the regional freight water-to-water transfer conditions are good, and the capacity of existing railway corridors such as the Xiaoyong Line and Shanghai-Kunming Line can meet the predicted freight demand, so freight demand is not large in the near future.
　　Industry insiders believe that from a locational perspective, choosing the Jiaxing connection can also serve the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou area and further consolidate Ningbo's position as a railway hub.
　　What citizens are most concerned about is when the Shanghai-Ningbo Cross-Sea Railway will start construction.
　　The responsible person revealed that recently, relevant parties will carry out docking, and within the railway system, a plan for the Shanghai-Zhapu-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway to directly reach Ningbo has also been proposed. Next, Ningbo will continue to contact and coordinate with the China Railway Corporation and the Shanghai Railway Bureau to determine the connection plan and route selection as soon as possible, and strive to start construction during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.