On October 29, construction started on the Haidongxi-Huangshengguan section of the Xining-Chengdu High-Speed Railway, which was comprehensively surveyed and designed by China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group and is being built with the participation of China Railway 11th, 12th, 14th, 18th, 19th and 25th Bureau Groups. This marks the start of full-scale construction of the Xining-Chengdu section, an important component of the Lanzhou (Xining)-Guangzhou high-speed rail corridor in China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed railway network.

The Xining-Chengdu High-Speed Railway crosses the three provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan. The line starts from Haidongxi Station in the Xining hub and passes through Haidong City and Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, and Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, before connecting at Huangshengguan Station with the Chengdu-Lanzhou Railway under construction and running on the same alignment into the Chengdu hub. The entire line has 29 stations, including 4 existing stations and 25 newly built stations.

Route map of the Xining-Chengdu High-Speed Railway

The Xining-Chengdu High-Speed Railway is built in four sections. The completed and operational Xining-Haidongxi section and Qingbaijiangdong-Chengdu East section already share operations with the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway and the Xi'an-Chengdu High-Speed Railway respectively; the Huangshengguan-Qingbaijiangdong section under construction will share operations with the Chengdu-Lanzhou High-Speed Railway under construction. The Haidongxi-Huangshengguan section, whose construction started this time, has a main line length of 502.5 km and a construction period of 7.5 years, with bridges and tunnels accounting for 80% of the entire line. The Gansu-Qinghai extra-long tunnel in Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, is the controlling project of the entire line, while the East Qilian Mountains Tunnel in Haidong City, Qinghai Province, the Zecha Tunnel in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, and the Baozuo Tunnel in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, are major and difficult projects along the line.

Rendering of the Jianzha Yellow River Grand Bridge on the Xining-Chengdu High-Speed Railway

Duan Rongcheng, chief designer of the Xining-Chengdu High-Speed Railway project, said that the line passes through basins, plateaus, river valleys, mountainous areas and ten major fault zones, with 60% of the route located at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters. It also passes through four national nature reserves, one provincial nature reserve and two county-level nature reserves, so the geological conditions are complex and the responsibility for ecological protection is significant. For this reason, China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group, on the one hand, adopted measures such as building bridges and increasing foundation pile depth to solve problems such as poor geological conditions and crossing swamps, and on the other hand, adopted measures such as replacing roads with bridges and regular vegetation maintenance to strengthen the avoidance and protection of nature reserves.

The Xining-Chengdu High-Speed Railway is part of the Lanzhou (Xining)-Guangzhou corridor from Lanzhou and Xining to Guangzhou in China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network. Along the route, it connects with multiple lines, including the already opened Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway, Xi'an-Chengdu High-Speed Railway, Chengdu-Guiyang High-Speed Railway and Chengdu-Chongqing High-Speed Railway, as well as the Lanzhou-Hezuo High-Speed Railway, Chengdu-Lanzhou High-Speed Railway and Chengdu-Dazhou-Wanzhou High-Speed Railway under construction, giving it a very important position in the network. After the entire line is completed and opened to traffic, it will greatly facilitate travel for people of all ethnic groups along the route, strengthen exchanges between the Lanzhou (Xining) urban agglomeration and the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration, and promote interconnection between the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "Yangtze River Economic Belt." It is of great significance for promoting economic and social development along the route and helping rural revitalization.

★ Main line length: 836.5 km

★ Design speed: 200 km/h

★ A total of 29 stations

★ The entire line is built in four sections‍

The completed and operational Xining-Haidongxi section and Qingbaijiangdong-Chengdu East section already share operations with the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway and the Xi'an-Chengdu High-Speed Railway respectively. The Huangshengguan-Qingbaijiangdong section under construction will share operations with the Chengdu-Lanzhou High-Speed Railway under construction. The Haidongxi-Huangshengguan section, whose construction started this time, has a main line length of 502.5 km and a construction period of 7.5 years, with bridges and tunnels accounting for 80% of the entire line.‍

Wishing all participating construction units smooth progress and the project an early completion and opening to traffic!