According to a disclosure by China Railway today, railway construction progressed efficiently and effectively in the first half of 2026. The national railway system completed 363.2 billion yuan in fixed asset investment, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%, and put 355.2 kilometers of new lines into operation, achieving a good start to the “15th Five-Year Plan”.
According to announcements obtained by Tech free press, a number of new lines and stations were successfully opened to traffic in the first half of this year. The Xi’an-Shiyan high-speed railway opened, with Xi’an East Station commencing operations simultaneously; the Wuhan-Xi’an high-speed railway achieved full-line operation, adding a major high-speed rail artery to Northwest and Central China; the Lanxi East-Jiande section of the Jinhua-Jiande high-speed railway opened, further densifying the railway network in southwestern Zhejiang; and the overall upgrading project of the Beijing Suburban Railway City Sub-center Line (Beijing West to Liangxiang section) was put into operation, further improving the efficiency of rail transit in the southwest region of the capital.
Key construction projects are progressing smoothly. Projects such as the Shandong section of the Xiong’an-Shangqiu High- Speed Railway and the Wenling-Yuhuan section of the Hangzhou-Taizhou High-Speed Railway have entered the operational testing phase; projects such as the Harbin-Yichun High-Speed Railway, the Yichang-Xingshan High-Speed Railway, the Xi’an-Ankang High-Speed Railway, and the Henan and Hebei sections of the Xiong’an-Shangqiu High-Speed Railway have started joint commissioning and testing; projects such as the Jinan-Binzhou High-Speed Railway and the Huaibei-Suzhou-Bengbu Intercity Railway are carrying out static acceptance work in an orderly manner; and key control projects of projects such as the Chengdu-Chongqing Central Line High-Speed Railway, the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway, the Xi’an-Chongqing High-Speed Railway, the Chongqing-Kunming High-Speed Railway, the Hefei-Wuhan High-Speed Railway, and the Nanchang-Jiujiang High-Speed Railway have made positive progress.
Solid progress has been made in the preliminary work for the projects. With the strong support of relevant national departments and local governments, the preliminary work for the main corridors of the “eight vertical and eight horizontal” high-speed rail network and a number of projects to address shortcomings and strengthen hubs has been steadily promoted. Projects such as the expansion and renovation of the Ulanhot-Arshan section of the Bai’a Railway have commenced construction. Projects such as the Zhengzhou-Lanzhou section of the Longhai Railway, the renovation of the Guiyang-Kunming section of the Shanghai-Kunming Railway, and the electrification renovation of the Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway are accelerating the handling of essential procedures and preliminary design approvals, striving for early commencement of construction. Feasibility study approvals have been completed for projects such as the Qianjiang-Jishou Railway. Significant progress has been made in the preliminary work for projects such as the Nanyang-Xinyang-Hefei Railway, the Taiyuan-Suide Railway, and the Naomohu-Wutongshui Railway.