The Xinyi–Changxing railway or Xinchang railway (), also known as the Xinchang line (), is a single-track

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

in eastern China between the cities of Xinyi in

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

Province and Changxing County in

Zhejiang Province ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

. It runs north-south through the entire length of

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

and the northern tip of Zhejiang. Major cities along route include

Huai'an ) , leader_title1 = , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = , leader_title3 = , leader_name3 = , leader_title4 = , leader_name4 = , established_title = ...

Yancheng Yancheng (), formerly known as Yandu, is a prefecture-level city in the eastern coastal Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. As the city with the largest jurisdictional area in Jiangsu, Yancheng borders Lianyungang to the north, Huai' ...

, Hai'an, Jingjiang,

Jiangyin Jiangyin (, Jiangyin dialect: ) is a county-level city on the southern bank of the Yangtze River. It is administered by the Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Jiangyin is an important transport hub on the Yangtze River and one of the most developed counties ...

and

Yixing Yixing () is a county-level city administered under the prefecture-level city of Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, China, and is part of the Yangtze Delta, Yangtze River Delta. The city is known for its traditional Yixing ware, Yixing clay ware t ...

. Including a spur from Hai'an to

Nantong Nantong is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. Nantong is a vital river port bordering Yancheng to the north; Taizhou to the west; Suzhou, Wux ...

, the Xinchang railway is in total length. It used a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...

to cross the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

, but this closed in 2019. Passenger services south of Hai'an have also been abandoned.

History

The Xinchang railway was the first railway to be built in Jiangsu Province north of the

. Construction began in September 1998 and the entire line was completed in April 2005. Passenger and freight service commenced on July 1, 2005. A connection to

(a section of the

Nanjing–Qidong railway The Nanjing–Qidong railway ( zh, s=南京–启东铁路, t=南京–啟東鐵路, hp=Nánjīng–Qǐdōng tiělù), commonly referred to in short as the Ningqi railway ( zh, s=宁启铁路, t=寧啟鐵路, hp=Níngqǐ tiělù), is a higher-spe ...

) was added in 2008. The train ferry closed on 16 December 2019. Passenger services south of Hai'an have also been abandoned.

Route

The Xinchang railway connects with the Longhai and Jiaozhou–Xinyi railways in the north and with the Nanjing–Nantong, Beijing–Shanghai, Xuancheng–Hangzhou railways in the south. Until 2019, the Xinchang line was the only major inland rail line in China to use a river

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

. As the railway has no bridge or tunnel crossing at the

, trains had to be ferried across the river from Jingjiang on the northern side of the river (terminal at ) to

on the southern side (terminal at ). At its peak, a pair of ferries made 48 trips per day across the river.(Chinese
"新长铁路轮渡日运送千余车皮　有效分流沪宁铁路运输压力" ''Xinhua''
Sept. 9, 2009

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xinyi-Changxing railway Railway lines in China Rail transport in Jiangsu Rail transport in Zhejiang Railway lines opened in 2005