The Baoji–Chengdu railway or Baocheng railway (), is a mixed single- and

double-track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

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 Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in China between

Baoji () is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a population of 3,321,853 accord ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

province and

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

province. The Baocheng Line is the main railway connection between the northern/ northwestern and

southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

China. The line has a total length of 668.2 km and passes through mostly mountainous terrain in southern

, eastern Gansu and northern Sichuan. It opened in 1961 as the first rail outlet from Sichuan, and in 1975 became the first railway in China to be electrified. Other cities along route include

Mianyang Mianyang (; formerly known as Mienchow) is the second largest prefecture-level city of Sichuan province in Southwest China. Located in north-central Sichuan covering an area of consisting of Jiangyou, a county-level city, five counties, and thr ...

Guangyuan Guangyuan () is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province, China, bordering the provinces of Shaanxi to the northeast and Gansu to the northwest. The city has a population of 2,305,657 as of the 2020 census. Located roughly between the provin ...

Guanghan Guanghan ( zh, s=广汉, t=廣漢, p=Guǎnghàn; formerly known as Hanchow) is a county-level city under the administration of Deyang in Sichuan province, southwest China, and only from Chengdu. The predominant industries are tourism, pharmaceut ...

and Lueyang.

Line description

The Baocheng Line runs from the plains of the

Sichuan Basin The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributar ...

to the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. The source of the Wei River is close to ...

Valley. It traverses the

Qin Mountains The Qinling () or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains"), are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Yellow ...

, the east–west range that divides northern from southern China. The line has 304 tunnels and 1,001 bridges, which collectively account for 17% of the total track length. In Baoji, the line meets the Longhai railway, on which trains can travel east to

Xian Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqin ...

and the Central Plains or west to Lanzhou and the northwest. At

Yangpingguan Yangpingguan () is a town in central Ningqiang County, in southwestern Shaanxi province, China. The town has an area of , in which there are 1 residential community () and 20 villages holding a total population of 26,000.(Chinese"阳平关镇" ' ...

, the line intersects with the

Yangpingguan–Ankang railway The Yangpingguan–Ankang railway or Yang'an railway (), is a single-track, electrified railroad in China between Yangpingguan and Ankang in southern Shaanxi Province. The line, in length, follows the upper reaches of the Han River and was ...

which branches eastward along the Han River Valley. In Chengdu, the line connects with the Chengyu Line to Chongqing, Chengqian Line to Guizhou, and Chengkun Line to Kunming.

History

Chinese 6Y1 electric locomotive on Baocheng Railway

The Baocheng line was originally proposed in Sun Yat-sen's 1913 China National railway plan as part of the Datong–Chengdu railway. Construction began in Chengdu on July 1, 1952 and from Baoji in January 1954.(Chinese
"第八期宝成铁路" ''中国制造之科技''
Accessed 2010-05-22 The line opened on January 1, 1958.(Chinese
宝成铁路建成通车腾讯大秦网
2013-05-28 The Baoji–Fengzhou section electrified in 1961, becoming the first railway to be electrified in the country. The entire line was electrified in 1971. Construction of a second track between Chengdu and

began in 1993 and was completed in 1999. From Yangpingguan to Baoji, the line remains single-track. The railway was badly damaged by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The Baoji–Chengdu railway, together with the Xi'an–Baoji section of the Longhai railway, formed the main railway route between Xi'an and Chengdu (and, in general, between North China and Sichuan). However, the new

Xi'an–Chengdu high-speed railway Xi'an–Chengdu high-speed railway or Xi'an-Chengdu Passenger Dedicated Line, is a dual-track, electrified, high-speed rail line in Western China between Xi'an and Chengdu, respectively the provincial capitals of Shaanxi and Sichuan. This lin ...

, between these two cities has assumed much of the passenger traffic on this route.

Rail junctions

Sichuan Province *

Chengdu–Kunming railway The Chengdu–Kunming railway or Chengkun railway (), is a major trunkline railroad in southwestern China between Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province and Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. The line is long and traverses rugged ...

Dazhou–Chengdu railway Dazhou–Chengdu Railway or Dacheng Railway (), is a double-track, electrified railroad in Sichuan Province of southwest China. The railway is named after its two terminal cities Chengdu and Dazhou. The line has a total length of and opened in ...

Chengdu–Chongqing railway Chengdu–Chongqing railway or Chengyu railway (), is a single-track electrified railroad in the Sichuan Basin of Southwest China between the cities Chengdu and Chongqing. Chongqing's short form name is Yu (渝) and the railway is named after the ...

Shaanxi Province *

: Longhai railway

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baoji-Chengdu Railway Railway lines in China Rail transport in Sichuan Rail transport in Gansu Rail transport in Shaanxi

Line description

History

Rail junctions

See also

References