On December 25th, a high-speed railway linking the scenic cities of Hangzhou, which is famous for the West Lake and Huangshan, a tourist resort well-known for the Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province, was put into operation.
The investment of the Hangzhou-Huangshan high-speed railway costs 35 billion RMB ($5 billion USD). The railway spends four years to be completed. There are nine stations on the way, traveling west through the southern part of Hangzhou, Fuyang, Tonglu, Jiande, and Chun’an counties in the western part of Zhejiang, and northwest to Sanyang Village, the counties of Jixi and Shexian, as well as the city of Huangshan in Anhui Province.
Hangzhou-Huangshan high-speed railway stretches 265 kilometers, and passes through a series of top scenic spots, including seven 5A scenic spots such as West Lake, Thousand Islands Lake, Huangshan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Xidihong Village, and some 4A scenic spots such as Tonglu Yaolin Wonderland, Linan Daming Mountain, and Qiyun Mountain.
The designed operating speed is 250 kilometers per hour, which cuts the travel time between Hangzhou and Huangshan from 3.5 hours to 1.5 hours. From December 25 to January 4, 2019, there will be 11 pairs of trains operating on the route. Starting on January 5, 33 pairs of trains are scheduled to put into use on this new rail route.