Zhengzhou–Xi'an high-speed railway

The Zhengzhou–Xi'an high-speed railway, also known as the Zhengxi passenger line, is a high-speed railway line operated by China Railway High-speed connecting Zhengzhou and Xi'an, the provincial capitals of Henan and Shaanxi, respectively. It went into operation on February 6, 2010.

Xuzhou–Lanzhou
high-speed railway
Zhengzhou–Xi'an section
徐兰高速铁路郑西段
Overview
StatusOperational
LocaleHenan and Shaanxi
TerminiZhengzhou
Xi'an North
Service
TypeHigh-speed rail
Operator(s)China Railway High-speed
History
OpenedFebruary 6, 2010
Technical
Line length457 km (284 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius7,000 meters
Operating speed350 km/h (217 mph)
Route map
km
elev
Zhengxu HSR to Xuzhou East
Longhai railway to Lianyungang East
Zhengji HSR to Jinan West
Jingshi HSR to Beijing West
 Zhengzhou East
Zhengyu HSR to Chongqing North
to Shiwu HSR
from Shiwu HSR
0
 Zhengzhou
to Jingshi HSR to Beijing
Longhai railway
24
 Zhengzhou West
75
 Gongyi South
Luoyang–Zhoukou railway to Zhoukou East
Hohhot–Nanning HSR to Taiyuan South
Jiaozuo–Liuzhou railway, Luoyang–Zhanjiang railway
Yueshan, Luoyang–Liuzhou, Zhanjiang
125
 Luoyang Longmen
Hohhot–Nanning HSR to Nanning East
190
 Mianchi South
Longhai railway, Lianyungang East–Lanzhou
248
 Sanmenxia South
Haoji Railway, Haolebaoji South–Ji'an
296
 Lingbao West
384
 Huashan North
 Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge
2 crossings of Wei
Daxi HSR to Datong South
442
 Weinan North
 Lintong East
Xi'an–Ankang railway to Ankang
 Xi'an
505
 Xi'an North
Yinxi HSR to Yinchuan
Xicheng HSR to Jiangyou
Longhai railway to Lanzhou
Xibao HSR to Baoji South
Zhengzhou–Xi'an high-speed railway
Simplified Chinese徐兰高速铁路郑西段
Traditional Chinese徐蘭高速鐵路鄭西段
Zhengzhou–Xi'an Passenger Dedicated Line
Simplified Chinese郑西客运专线
Traditional Chinese鄭西客運專線

The line is one of the segments of the Xuzhou–Lanzhou high-speed railway, a high-speed mainline from Lanzhou to Xuzhou, paralleling the existing Longhai Railway line.

The densely populated corridor between Zhengzhou and Xi'an, both large regional centres, is home to some 100 million people. Its top speed is 350 km/h (220 mph) in operation, the minimum travel time between the two cities is 1 hour and 58 minutes, although in practice the journey takes more than two hours with a few intermediate stops.[1]

When the high-speed line first opened, the trains departed and arrived at the "old" main train stations of Zhengzhou and Xi'an. Once the new Xi'an North Railway Station was opened all high-speed service in Xi'an was routed to it. In Zhengzhou now both the Zhengzhou Railway Station and the new Zhengzhou East Railway Station are served by high-speed trains from Xi'an.

The faster, G-series trains on the Zhengzhou–Xi'an Railway are numbered G20xx. Westbound trains (Zhengzhou to Xi'an) are odd-numbered, while even numbers denote eastbound trains (Xi'an to Zhengzhou).

With the opening of the Zhengzhou–Wuhan section of the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway in the fall of 2012, direct high-speed service from Xi'an to Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou and Shenzhen was introduced.[2] As well, after the Beijing-Shijiazhuang-Zhengzhou section of the Beijing–Guangzhou line becomes operational at the end of 2012, direct Xi'an-Beijing service became available.

The railway has made air service between Zhengzhou and Xi'an uncompetitive. All passenger flights between the two cities were suspended within 48 days of start of regular high-speed rail service.[3]

Construction

Construction work began on September 25, 2005, the railway opened for service on February 6, 2010.[4][5] CRH trains will run at 350 km/h (220 mph) on the line.

The main line is 456.639 km (283.742 mi) long, with another 27.879 km (17.323 mi) extension connecting existing Longhai Railway from Xi'an North to Xianyang Qindu. Ten railway stations were built along the line: Zhouzhou West, Gongyi South, Luoyang Longmen, Mianchi South, Sanmenxia South, Lingbao West, Huashan North, Weinan North, Lintong East, and Xi'an North. The minimum railway curve radius is 9,000 metres (30,000 ft) for most of the line and 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) for some difficult sections. The distance between two parallel tracks is 5 metres (16 ft).

The line includes the 8,460-metre (27,760 ft) long Zhangmao Tunnel, 7,851-metre (25,758 ft) long Hanguguan Tunnel and the 7,685-metre (25,213 ft) long Qindong Tunnel. The line also includes the 79,732-metre (261,588 ft) long Weihe Grand Bridge, which, upon its completion, was the longest bridge in the world.[6]

Accidents

On November 14, 2009, a track inspection train seriously damaged 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) of the tracks near Huashan North Railway Station during a test run. The damaged section had to be removed and replaced. The railway was originally expected to be opened in December 2009, but the accident delayed the opening of the railway for at least one month.

References
  1. Phoenix New Media Group. [Participation in China's Zhengzhou-Xi'an Railway Passenger successful test run]; February 1, 2010.
  2. Schedule for Xi'an North Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  3. China express train forces airlines to stop flights. 03-26-2010 [Retrieved 03-28-2010]. Reuters.
  4. Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed train starts operation. China Daily. February 6, 2010 [Retrieved February 6, 2010].
  5. High-speed rail linking central, western China starts operation. iStockAnalyst. February 6, 2010 [Retrieved February 6, 2010].
  6. 郑西客运专线渭南渭河特大桥架梁施工创纪录. RailCN.net. July 3, 2007. Chinese.

Further reading
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