The Fengtai–Shacheng railway (), also known as the Fengsha railway, is a dual-track,

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

, railroad in

northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...

. The Fengtai–Shacheng railway runs from

Fengtai District Fengtai District () is a district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies mostly to the southwest of the city center, extending into the city's southwestern suburbs beyond the 6th Ring Road, Sixth Ring Road, but also to the south and, to a smaller ...

in western

Beijing Municipality } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

to the town of Shacheng in

Huailai County Huailai () is a county in northwestern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhangjiakou. Huailai County is a center for grape wine production, with the China Great Wall Wine Company ...

Hebei Province Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

. The line passes through Beijing's Fengtai,

Shijingshan Shijingshan District () is an urban district of the municipality of Beijing. It lies to the west of the urban core of Beijing, and is part of the Western Hills area, bordering the districts of Haidian to the northeast and east, Fengtai to the so ...

and

Mentougou District Mentougou District () is a district in western Beijing. Spanning , with 266,591 inhabitants (2000 Census), it is subdivided into 4 subdistricts of the city proper of Beijing and 9 towns (1 of which is a suburb of the city proper of Beijing). It bor ...

s, and Huailai County in northern Hebei. The original single track line was built from 1952 to 1955. The second track was added in 1972. The line was electrified in 1984.

Line description

The Fengsha railway runs up the

Yongding River The Yongding River () is a river in northern China. It is one of the main tributaries in the Hai River system and is best known as the largest river to flow through Beijing. In recent years, the Beijing segment of the river has dried up due to ...

Valley from Fengtai District in southwest Beijing through the

Taihang Mountains The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is ...

and across the Guanting Reservoir to Shacheng, on the Beijing–Baotou railway. The line crosses the Yongding River eight times through rugged terrain and has 67 tunnels and 81 bridges in all. The shortest tunnel, No. 056, just in length, is the shortest standard gauge rail tunnel in China. 8K 124 20111102

The famous late

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

railway engineer

Jeme Tien Yow Zhan Tianyou/Chan T'ien-yu (; 26 April 1861 – 24 April 1919), or Jeme Tien-Yow as he called himself in English, based on the Cantonese pronunciation, was a pioneering Chinese railroad engineer. Educated in the United States, he was the chief ...

considered routing the Beijing–Zhangjiakou railway through the Yongding River Valley, but abandoned the approach due to high construction costs. The line was built in 1952 as an alternative route to Beijing–Baotou railway for the shipment of coal from

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

. The Fengsha railway avoids the steep incline at

Nankou Nankou railway station () is a railway station in Beijing. The station was opened in 1906. Schedules 10 passenger trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles ...

near

Badaling Badaling () is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of Beijing's city center, in Badaling Town, Yanqing District (within Beijing municipality). The portion of the wall running through the ...

on the Jingbao Line. A marble stele by the entrance to Tunnel No. 1 near Liuliqu Village commemorates the 108 soldiers who died building the initial line.

Rail connections

* Fengtai:

Beijing–Shanghai Railway The Beijing–Shanghai railway or Jinghu railway () is a railway line between Beijing and Shanghai. The line has a total length of and connects the municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, as well as the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, ...

* Shijingshan South:

Beijing–Yuanping railway The Beijing–Yuanping or Jingyuan railway (), is a railroad in northern China between Beijing, the national capital, and Yuanping in Shanxi Province. The line is in length, and traverses through Beijing Municipality, Hebei and Shanxi Province ...

* Shacheng: Beijing–Baotou railway

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fengtai-Shacheng Railway Railway lines in China Rail transport in Beijing Rail transport in Hebei

Line description

Rail connections

See also

References