Major section on Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway achieves milestone

An aerial view of the construction site of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway in Hubei province. (Provided to chinadaily.com.cn)

With the recent successful completion of the final 130-meter ballastless track bed pouring phase on the Zhanghe rail bridge, the ballastless track construction phase of the sixth bid of the Wuhan-Yichang section on the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway has been completed, State infrastructure builder China Railway Construction Corp said.

The completion of the phase, according to CRCC's 24th bureau, has laid a solid foundation for subsequent track laying and completion for the opening of the railway, which is scheduled for next year.

The final ballastless track construction features a length of 103.5 kilometers, of which the construction has leveraged many high technical tools with strict requirements for the strength, stiffness, durability and stability of the embankments, bridges and tunnels.

As a critical part of the national major horizontal rail route, the mainline of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway Wuhan-Yichang section spans 313 kilometers with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

CR24G said the high-speed railway, after its full completion, will serve as a crucial intercity passage between the Wuhan metropolitan area and the Yichang-Jingzhou urban agglomeration. The rail route will accelerate the establishment of the high-speed railway corridor along the Yangtze River and promote the development of the Yangtze River economic belt.