The Zhengzhou–Xi'an high-speed railway, also known as the Zhengxi passenger line, is a

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

way line operated by China Railway High-speed, connecting

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, China. Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine National central city, national central cities in China, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. Th ...

and

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

, the provincial capitals of

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

and

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

, respectively. It went into operation on February 6, 2010. The line is one of the segments of the Xuzhou–Lanzhou high-speed railway, a high-speed mainline from

Lanzhou Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu province in northwestern China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. His ...

Xuzhou Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...

, paralleling the existing Longhai Railway line. The densely populated corridor between Zhengzhou and Xi'an, both large regional centres, is home to some 100 million people. Its top speed is in operation and the minimum travel time between the two cities is 1 hour and 58 minutes, although in practice, the journey takes more than two hours with a few intermediate stops. When the high-speed line first opened, the trains departed and arrived at the "old" main train stations of

and

. Once the new Xi'an North railway station was opened, all high-speed service in Xi'an was routed to it. In Zhengzhou, now both the Zhengzhou Railway Station and the new Zhengzhou East railway station are served by high-speed trains from Xi'an. The faster, G-series trains on the Zhengzhou–Xi'an Railway are numbered G20xx. Westbound trains (Zhengzhou to Xi'an) are odd-numbered, while even numbers denote eastbound trains (Xi'an to Zhengzhou). With the opening of the Zhengzhou–Wuhan section of the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway in the fall of 2012, direct high-speed service from Xi'an to Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen was introduced. As well, after the Beijing-Shijiazhuang-Zhengzhou section of the Beijing–Guangzhou line became operational at the end of 2012, direct Xi'an-Beijing service became available. The railway has made air service between Zhengzhou and Xi'an uncompetitive. All passenger flights between the two cities were suspended within 48 days of the start of regular high-speed rail service.

Construction

Construction work began on September 25, 2005, and the railway opened for service on February 6, 2010. CRH trains will run at on the line. The main line is long, with another extension connecting the existing Longhai Railway from Xi'an North to Xianyang Qindu. Ten railway stations were built along the line: Zhouzhou West, Gongyi South, Luoyang Longmen, Mianchi South, Sanmenxia South, Lingbao West, Huashan North, Weinan North, Lintong East, and Xi'an North. The

minimum railway curve radius The minimum railway curve radius is the shortest allowable design radius for the centerline of railway tracks under a particular set of conditions. It has an important bearing on construction costs and operating costs and, in combination with ...

is for most of the line and for some difficult sections. The distance between two parallel tracks is . The line includes the long Zhangmao Tunnel, long Hanguguan Tunnel, and the long Qindong Tunnel. The line also includes the long Weihe Grand Bridge, which, upon its completion, was the longest bridge in the world.

Accidents

On November 14, 2009, a track inspection train seriously damaged of the tracks near Huashan North Railway Station during a test run. The damaged section had to be removed and replaced. The railway was originally expected to be opened in December 2009, but the accident delayed the opening of the railway for at least one month.

References

External links

Route on OpenStreetMap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhengzhou-Xi'an High-Speed Railway High-speed railway lines in China Standard-gauge railways in China *2 Railway lines opened in 2010 25 kV AC railway electrification

Construction

Accidents

References

Further reading

External links