Hangzhou–Huangshan intercity railway () or Hanghuang ICR () 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 ...

, high-speed rail line between

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

and

Huangshan Huangshan (),Bernstein, pp. 125–127. literally meaning the Yellow Mountain(s), is a mountain range in southern Anhui Province in eastern China. It was originally called “Yishan”, and it was renamed because of a legend that Emperor Xua ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

. The line runs through northwestern Zhejiang and southern Anhui and accommodates trains traveling at speeds up to . Travel time from Hangzhou to Huangshan was reduced to about one and one-half hour. The line is the first rail link between the two cities and brings counties in mountainous southern Anhui closer to the

Yangtze River Delta The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD, or simply ) is a triangle-shaped megalopolis generally comprising the Wu Chinese-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. The area lies in the heart of the Jiangnan re ...

region. Construction began on June 30, 2014, and the line opened on December 25, 2018.

Route

The high-speed rail line is connecting southern Anhui Province with the Hangzhou, on the eastern seaboard, via northwestern Zhejiang province. Cities and towns along route include Hangzhou,

Fuyang () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Bozhou to the northeast, Huainan to the southeast, Lu'an to the south, and the province of Henan on all other sides. Its population was 8,200,264 inhabitants at the ...

, Tonglu, Xiaoshan,

Jiande is a county-level city of Zhejiang Province, East China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hangzhou. History During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jiande was the capital of Yanzhou Prefecture. On account of this, Jian ...

, Chun’an in Zhejiang, and

Jixi Jixi () is a city in southeastern Heilongjiang Province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, 1,502,060 people resided within its administrative area of and 560,118 in its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of 3 out of 6 urban dis ...

, She County, and Huangshan in Anhui. At its eastern terminus, Hangzhou, the line is linked to the high-speed rail lines to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

and

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

. At its western terminus, Huangshan, the line connects to the Hefei–Fuzhou high-speed railway. Scenic sites along route include Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), the ancient villages in southern Anhui,

Qiandao Lake Qiandao Lake (), a human-made, freshwater lake located in Chun'an County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, was formed after the completion of the Xin'an River hydroelectric station in 1959. Geography 1,078 large islands dot the lake and a ...

, and Hangzhou. Hanghuang Hi Speed Railway Linemap

History

The Hanghuang high-speed rail project was initially approved by the

State Development and Planning Commission The National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China (NDRC), formerly State Planning Commission and State Development Planning Commission, is a macroeconomic management agency under the State Council, which has b ...

in July 2010. Construction was to begin later in that year and was scheduled to be completed by as early as 2013. After two rounds of environmental assessments of surveys in 2010 and 2011, the project was revised. In August 2013, planners announced that the route would run in Zhejiang and in Anhui with 10 stations, including eight new stations. Two stations, Shexian South and Sanyang were added to the original plan, which had Hangzhou East, Hangzhou South, Fuyang, Tonglu, Jiande, Chunan, Jixi North and Huangshan North. The Jiande-to-Jixi section of the line would use seamless steel rails laid on concrete rail bed. The Xiaoshan South-to-Jiande and Jixi-to-Huangshan sections would have rail laid on conventional gravel beds. The design speed of the railway was changed from an initial speed of with expansion capability for operation to 250 km/h without any expansion capability to higher speeds. Construction began on June 30, 2014 and the line was opened on December 25, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hangzhou-Huangshan Intercity Railway High-speed railway lines in China Rail transport in Anhui Rail transport in Zhejiang Railway lines opened in 2018