LINE

Text:AAAPrint
Society

Bullet train line will reach grottoes

1
2018-09-14 10:15:13China Daily Editor : Mo Hong'e ECNS App Download
The delegation on the ancient Silk Road tour visits the Mogao Grottos in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu province on Sept 2, 2018. (Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn)

The delegation on the ancient Silk Road tour visits the Mogao Grottos in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu province on Sept 2, 2018. (Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn)

Tourists will be able to reach Dunhuang, Gansu province, directly by high-speed train soon and see its famous Mogao Grottoes among other sites, after a high-speed train reached the city during a test run on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, a test bullet train from Jiayuguan, Gansu, arrived at Dunhuang rail station, marking the city's first connectivity to the high-speed rail network, Dunhuang authorities said on the city's official social media account.

"Dunhuang only has a 160-kilometer regular railway connecting with other cities in Gansu so people can only get there now by ordinary train," said an official at the Lanzhou Railway Bureau's publicity office, who declined to be named. 

"The 3-kilometer railway construction was finished. It will connect the regular railway to the Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed line, the only one in northwest Gansu, so that bullet trains can arrive in Dunhuang."

The official said the test train will be fully checked to ensure it can run along the whole journey safely. "Although the high-speed train's running speed hasn't been decided upon, it's certain that the commuting time of tourists heading to Dunhuang will be reduced," he said.

Now, there are only three direct regular trains from Lanzhou to Dunhuang per day, and the journey takes over 12 hours.

"What's more important, Dunhuang will be incorporated into the national high-speed railway network, so that visitors from major cities in other parts of China - including Xi'an, Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan - can reach Dunhuang much faster than ever before," he said.

Dunhuang was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road and is best known for the nearby Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing some of the finest examples of Buddhist art.

According to the Dunhuang tourism administration, over 9 million people visited Dunhuang in 2017, up 12.3 percent year-on-year.

Wang Weiang, 23, visited Gansu last year. She took the bullet train from Beijing to Lanzhou and then traveled to the Mogao Grottoes, by bus.

"It's quite painful to sit on a bus for over seven hours a day," she said. "I really want to visit the Mogao Grottoes one more time. It would great to get there by bullet train."

Chen Jinye, director of the administration, also believes less commuting time will attract more visitors from major cities and benefit local tourism development.

 

  

Related news

MorePhoto

Most popular in 24h

MoreTop news

MoreVideo

News
Politics
Business
Society
Culture
Military
Sci-tech
Entertainment
Sports
Odd
Features
Biz
Economy
Travel
Travel News
Travel Types
Events
Food
Hotel
Bar & Club
Architecture
Gallery
Photo
CNS Photo
Video
Video
Learning Chinese
Learn About China
Social Chinese
Business Chinese
Buzz Words
Bilingual
Resources
ECNS Wire
Special Coverage
Infographics
Voices
LINE
Back to top Links | About Us | Jobs | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.