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CHENGDU, China, Dec. 28, 2022 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

At 8:05 on December 26, the C57 "Hulk" revival train started slowly from

Chengdu South Railway Station and headed for Xichang, marking the opening of

the last section of the new Chengdu-Kunming Railway (Chengdu-Kunming Railway

expansion and renovation project) - the Emei to Coronation section. At this

point, the new 915-kilometer-long Chengdu-Kunming Railway has been put into

operation.

The New Chengdu-Kunming Railway is constructed under the auspices of China

Railway Chengdu Bureau Group Co., Ltd. with 30 new stations and 18 altered

stations. Railroad departments along the line are fully cooperating with the

opening operation and running passenger trains and cargo trains. Later,

according to the operation and market demand, the train operation plan will be

continuously optimized. Meanwhile, the optimized and upgraded CR200J

power-concentrated locomotive set will be put into operation in the new

Chengdu-Kunming Railway.

"Welcome to the train, Cimogeni (good luck)!" Next to the brand-new train,

wearing a Yi pleated skirt, 29-year-old Yi conductor Ayi Buka led the train

crew to say blessings to the passengers. She comes from Ganluo County,

Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, once an extremely

impoverished area. "My home is right next to Ganluo Railway Station. It used to

take five hours to get home from Chengdu, but now it only takes two hours and

there are more trains," Ayi Buka said with a smile. Including the large and

small Liang Shan, the Sichuan-Yunnan junction of the Hengduan Mountains, high

mountains and deep valleys, geological structure is extremely complex, known as

the "geological museum", once asserted by foreign experts as "railroad

forbidden area".

Since the completion of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, it provides a strong

transport guarantee for economic and social development. At the same time, with

the increasing transport demand, Chengdu-Kunming Railway capacity is becoming

saturated. For this reason, the railroad department decided to build a new

Chengdu-Kunming Railway in the area along the existing Chengdu-Kunming Railway.

Wang Wei, the general director in charge of the new Chengdu-Kunming Railway of

the Second Institute of China Railway, the designer, introduced that according

to the engineering difficulty and transport capacity demand, the new

Chengdu-Kunming Railway adopts segmented construction and segmented operation

mode to promote. "Compared with the single-line operation of the old

Chengdu-Kunming Railway, the new Chengdu-Kunming Railway is a two-line

operation, the design speed is increased from 80 kilometers per hour to 160

kilometers per hour, and the transport capacity is significantly increased,

which will greatly drive the development of resources and economic development

in the areas along the line."

"The new Chengdu-Kunming Railway is connected to the Chengdu railroad hub with

the China-European train Chengyu in the north, and to the Sino-Lao railroad

through the Kunming railroad hub in the south." Tang Jiqiang, professor of

Southwest University of Finance and Economics, said that the full line of the

new  Chengdu-Kunming Railway will strongly promote the great connection between

China's southwest region, including the twin-city economic circle in the

Chengdu-Chongqing region, and the international corridor, and help open up the

country at a high level.

As a transportation artery connecting Chengdu, Xichang and Kunming, the new

Chengdu-Kunming Railway is a key project for the development of the western

part of the country and an important channel connecting South Asia and

Southeast Asia in the construction of "The Belt and Road", which has an

important role in promoting the economic quality development of the areas along

the route.

Source: China Railway Chengdu Bureau Group Co., Ltd.