China’s high-speed railway in historic revolutionary base enters testing phase

A new high-speed railway linking Xi’an, the capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, with Yan’an in the north has entered its joint debugging and testing phase, a key step toward full operation. On Thursday, a test train completed the full 299.8-kilometer route, allowing engineers to check and fine-tune systems such as power supply, tracks and signaling under simulated operating conditions.

The line crosses the rugged Loess Plateau, with tunnels and bridges making up 91 percent of its length. Designed for speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour, it will cut travel time between Xi’an and Yan’an from two and a half hours to about one hour when it opens by the end of this year.

As the first high-speed railway serving northern Shaanxi’s former revolutionary base area, the project is expected to strengthen the national high-speed rail network, spur rural revitalization and drive development in western China.

Credit : CGTN