The Jizheng High-speed Railway is fully open to traffic, bringing the Shandong Peninsula and the Central Plains urban agglomeration “one step closer” – China News Network – China News Network

China News Service, Jinan, December 8 (Reporter Sha Jianlong) “If you take the high-speed rail to Henan to eat a bowl of braised noodles, and then return home to catch up on sleep, it will only take half a day in total.” On December 8, Jinan to Zhengzhou The high-speed railway (hereinafter referred to as the Jizheng High-speed Railway) is fully open to traffic. Cao Jianmin, who lives in Changqing District, Jinan, likened the convenience brought by the opening of the two places to traffic.

On December 8, the entire Jizheng High-speed Railway was opened to traffic. The picture shows the Fuxing train departing from Jinan Changqing Station to Zhengzhou.Photo by Sha Jianlong

The Jizheng High-speed Railway is jointly planned and constructed by Shandong and Henan provinces. It has a total length of 407 kilometers and a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It is an important connection line of China’s “Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal” high-speed rail network and an important component along the Yellow Land-Sea Channel. It took 7 years to welcome Come across the entire line.

Cao Jianmin, who works in pharmaceutical sales, is responsible for the Central China market. He often takes the high-speed train to and from Jinan and Zhengzhou, either going south and detouring to Xuzhou, or going north to detour Shijiazhuang, which takes nearly three hours at the fastest. Today, the Jizheng High-speed Railway has shortened the fastest travel time between the two places to 1 hour and 43 minutes. Through the Zhengzhou hub, the time from Shandong cities to western central cities such as Xi’an and Chongqing is also shortened.

“The opening of the high-speed rail line will create a psychological sense of closeness between the people of the two places and create a ‘hug-like’ centripetal force.” Li Jikai, chief economist of the East Asia Think Tank, views the benefits brought by the opening of the Jizheng High-speed Railway from both psychological and physical perspectives. He believes that in the physical dimension, the Jizheng High-speed Railway will promote the accelerated flow of people, materials, information and funds, and bring vitality to economic development. “The Jizheng High-speed Railway will provide an efficient channel for regional economic interconnection between Shandong and the Central Plains.”

The picture shows aerial photography along the Jizheng High-speed Railway.Photo by Jiang Aiyong

Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei, known as the “Four Provinces of Mountains and Rivers” by netizens, have simultaneously realized a closed-loop high-speed railway network between provincial capital cities due to the opening of the Jizheng High-speed Railway, and adjacent cities will form a “1.5-hour living circle.”

According to Dong Yanling, professor and dean of the Regional Economic Research Institute of Shandong University of Finance and Economics, the “four provinces of Shanhe” each have their own development characteristics and strengths. High-speed rail can allow resources from all parties to flow more smoothly, expand service radius, deepen cooperation, complement each other’s advantages, and improve The degree of integration along the Yellow River region.

Zhang Ruhua, associate professor at Qilu School of Transportation at Shandong University and director of the Transportation Planning and Design Research Center of Shandong University, believes that the opening of the Jizheng High-speed Railway has weakened the “interprovincial sense” of Shandong and Henan provinces, while also allowing Jinan and Zhengzhou to travel to Xi’an, Lanzhou, and Xining A “line-shaped” channel along the Yellow River High-speed Railway was formed. In the future, the four urban agglomerations of Shandong Peninsula, Zhongyuan, Lanxi, and Guanzhong Plain will form a closer economic circle linkage.

The reporter learned during the interview that the Jizheng High-speed Railway needs to cross multiple rivers and existing railway lines during construction, making construction difficult. Each participating unit independently innovated a number of advanced technologies, such as setting a record for China’s first overall hoisting across an existing railway guide beam and exploring a new model of intelligent management of railway beam yards, which is of great significance to promoting the development of China’s railway industry. (over)