The Fuzhou–Xiamen railway or Fuxia railway (;

Foochow Romanized Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Mindong linguistic and cultural region. Fuzhou's population was 8 ...

: ''Hók-â Tʰiā-le̤'') is a dual-track, electrified, higher-speed rail line in eastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The line is named after its two terminal cities

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

and

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

, both coastal cities in

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

. The line has a total length of and forms part of China's Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen passenger-dedicated railway. Construction began in 2005, and the line entered into operation on April 26, 2010. The line is used for both passenger and freight operations. Trains running on the line reached top speeds of , although that was later reduced to .

Route

The Fuzhou–Xiamen railway follows the rugged but prosperous coast of Fujian with 14 stations between Fuzhou South Station and Xiamen Station including

Fuqing (，Foochow Romanized: Hók-chiăng; also romanized as Hokchia) is a coastal county-level city under the jurisdiction of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, China. Covering 1,432 square kilometers and home to over 1.46 million residents ( ...

, Hanjiang,

Putian Putian ( zh, s= , Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Hinghwa/Hinghua ( zh, s=兴化, t=興化), is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. I ...

, Xianyou,

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

, Jinjiang, Xiamen North, Xinglin and Xiamen Gaoqi. Bridges and tunnels account for over 37% of the line's total length.

History

The Fuzhou–Xiamen railway is the first railway between Fujian's two important most cities, Fuzhou, the provincial capital, and Xiamen, the province's most prosperous city. Most high-speed rail lines in China follow the routes of older conventional railroads, but there were no railways on the southeast coast prior to the introduction of high-speed rail. Historically, the southeast coastal region relied on maritime transportation, and rugged terrain made railway construction more expensive. In the first half of the 20th century, warfare and political instability delayed railway construction. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the southeast coast faced the threat of invasion from Republic of China on Taiwan and all railways were built inland. Only when political tensions across the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Tai ...

eased in the late 1990s did planning of the Fuzhou–Xiamen railway take place. The project was approved by the State Council in July 2004. Construction began in September 2005 and was completed in December 2009. Commercial operation began on April 26, 2010. Unlike later Chinese high-speed rail lines which were built to higher speed standards of , the Fuzhou–Xiamen line was built to the standard with the capacity for upgrade to . The opening of high-speed rail line greatly reduced travel times by rail on the coast of Fujian. Passenger train service on the line average . The trip from Fuzhou to Xiamen on the non-stop express train takes 1 hr. 28 min. compared to the 10-hour train ride via railroads that cut inland. The trip by long-distance bus on the express highway takes 2.5 to 4 hours. In the first year of operation from 2010 to 2011, the line carried over 18 million passengers, averaging 50,000 per day, and reported occupancy rates exceeding 100%.

Competitiveness

Occupancy rate on the Fuxia line is among the highest of China's high-speed railways. The line offers competitive fares and passes through large cities with well-developed public transportation and high demand for intercity travel. As of February 2011, a regular ticket from Fuzhou to Xiamen costs ¥85, and a first class ticket costs ¥103. Drivers making the same trip by express highway will pay ¥300-400 including gas and tolls, and spend 1.5 more hours on the road. During the

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

, the peak season for intercity travel, the number of long distance bus trips between Fuzhou and Xiamen fell from 98 per day in 2010 to just 7 per day in 2011. Long distance bus ridership from Fuzhou to Xiamen fell by 83%, to Quanzhou by 63%, to Jinjiang by 50%, to Shishi by 25% and to Putian by 38%. In August 2015, it was announced that a parallel passenger-dedicated line (resulting in journey time savings) would be built between Fuzhou and Zhangzhou on account of the existing line having reached its capacity.

Rail connections

: Wenzhou–Fuzhou railway, Nanping–Fuzhou railway, Xiangtang–Putian railway *

: Xiangtang–Putian railway *

Zhangping–Quanzhou–Xiaocuo railway The Zhangping–Quanzhou–Xiaocuo railway (), also known as the Zhangquanxiao railway, is a regional railway in Fujian Province, China. The line runs eastward from Zhangping, Longyan in the interior, to Quanzhou, on the coast, and terminates ...

, Xingguo–Quanzhou railway *

: Longyan–Xiamen railway, Xiamen–Shenzhen railway

Parallel route

As of 2015, passenger services on the line were approaching capacity. To increase capacity and improve travel times between Fujian Province's two largest cities, plans were announced in 2015 for the construction of a new parallel passenger dedicated railway called the Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway. Construction of this new railway started in 2017. It follows the existing Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, but supports a higher maximum speed of 350 km/h, further reducing travel times between the two cities to below one hour. Opening of the new line was scheduled for 2022, the route finally opened in 2023.

References