On January 16, at the advance construction section of the Yancheng-Nantong high-speed railway in Yancheng, workers braved the cold to intensify operations, with excavators, bulldozers, and loaders lined up neatly, and construction proceeding in an intense and orderly manner. On the same day, the construction mobilization meeting for the Yancheng-Nantong Railway was held here, marking the official start of construction of the Yancheng-Nantong high-speed railway designed for a speed of 350 km/h. Once completed, the travel time from Yancheng to Shanghai will be about 1 hour, and Yancheng will fully integrate into Shanghai's "one-hour economic circle".

The Yancheng-Nantong Railway is an important part of the coastal railway in the national "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed rail network, a crucial section of the new Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail corridor, and an important component of the "one network" construction in Yancheng's "five ones" strategic project. The start of construction of the Yancheng-Nantong Railway is of great significance to Yancheng. Wang Rongping, secretary of the municipal party committee, said that this railway is a road to realizing dreams, a road to takeoff, and a road to rejuvenation.

The Yancheng-Nantong Railway line starts from Yancheng Station of the Xuzhou-Suqian-Huai'an-Yancheng Railway, runs south through Dafeng District, Dongtai City, Hai'an County, and Rugao City, and ends at the under-construction Nantong West Station of the Shanghai-Nantong Railway. The newly built main line has a total length of about 156.6 kilometers, of which about 92 kilometers are within Yancheng, with 6 stations along the entire line. In addition, 13.2 kilometers of up and down connecting lines between the Nantong Station and the Nanjing-Qidong Line will be built, a new Nantong EMU depot will be constructed, and some bridge projects from Nantong West to Zhangjiagang will be implemented simultaneously (including ballasting for the Shanghai-Nantong Railway Yangtze River Bridge). The planned long-term transport capacity is 40 million passengers per year in one direction. The total investment in the project is 26.28 billion yuan (including the main line, connecting lines, and EMU depot).

Yancheng is located at the intersection of the "Belt and Road" and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It is not only a selected city in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration but also a national sustainable development experimental zone under construction, with its regional status and urban influence continuously improving. In recent years, Yancheng has seized the major opportunity period of the superposition of two national strategies: the integration of the Yangtze River Delta region and the coastal development of Jiangsu. It has accelerated coastal development, maintained steady economic growth, led the province in many major indicators, significantly enhanced its comprehensive strength, and its total scale has been catching up year by year. At the same time, Yancheng has abundant land, agricultural products, labor, tidal flats, and tourism resources. Only through the construction of high-speed railways with fast speed, large capacity, low cost, and safety and reliability can these resources further improve accessibility, fundamentally improve the investment environment, and enable Yancheng to effectively receive radiation from economically developed areas such as Shanghai and southern Jiangsu, turning potential advantages into real competitive and comparative advantages.

Railway construction is related to development and directly affects people's livelihoods. In recent years, the Yancheng Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have seized the opportunities of superimposed national strategies and proposed building a comprehensive transportation "one network" focusing on high-speed railways, expressways, urban elevated roads, main waterways, trunk highways, aviation, and rural roads. They are building external fast channels and fully promoting the construction of a "5+1" high-speed railway network to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Xi'an, and Qingdao. With the care and support of the National Development and Reform Commission, China Railway Corporation, and the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, the Yancheng Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government actively sought to adjust and upgrade the speed target of the Yancheng-Nantong Railway. Finally, the feasibility study report designed for a speed of 350 km/h was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission on October 23, 2017. The start of construction of the Yancheng-Nantong Railway is of great significance for deeply implementing the Yangtze River Economic Belt development strategy, accelerating the construction of the coastal high-speed railway corridor, and promoting economic and social development in northern Jiangsu.

Currently, multiple railways are under construction simultaneously within Yancheng, making it the main battlefield of railway construction in Jiangsu. The Yancheng-Lianyungang Railway is an important part of the national coastal railway corridor. The Yancheng section started construction in December 2013 and has now been fully connected. The Xuzhou-Suqian-Huai'an-Yancheng Railway is the "opening masterpiece" for Yancheng to enter the high-speed rail era. It started construction on December 28, 2015, and the project progress exceeds the scheduled timeline. The Yancheng-Nanjing high-speed railway connecting line and the Yancheng-Taizhou-Wuxi-Changzhou-Yixing intercity railway are also being advanced simultaneously. The responsible person of the Yancheng Railway Office stated that with the accelerated construction of the "5+1" high-speed railway network, a modern comprehensive transportation system that runs north-south, east-west, and connects internally and externally will be formed. Yancheng will enter the high-speed rail era, and travel time to major cities in the Yangtze River Delta such as Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Wuxi will be shortened by more than two-thirds. It will fully integrate into Shanghai's "one-hour economic circle", reshape Yancheng's economic geography, and in the future, Yancheng will transform from a transportation "endpoint" to a transportation "hub", and leap from a coastal "lowland" to a development "highland".