The track laying of the entire Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railway line is completed and it is expected to be ready for operation in the first half of 2027.

China News Service, Zhaotong, Yunnan, October 24 (Deng Xiaolong, Yang Ying, Xie Yike) As the last pair of 500-meter-long steel rails was laid at the entrance of the Junlian tunnel of the Chongqing-Kunming High-speed Railway on the 24th, track laying of the entire Chongqing-Kunming High-speed Railway was completed.

The Chongqing-Kunming High-speed Railway is an important part of the Beijing-Kunming corridor of China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network. The line starts from Chongqing West Railway Station, passes through Chongqing City, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province and Yunnan Province, and connects to Kunming South Railway Station. The total length is about 700 kilometers, with a designed driving speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The entire line is being constructed in sections. Among them, the section from Chongqing to Yibin has been put into operation on September 29, 2024, and the section from Yibin to Kunming is being constructed in an orderly manner.

On October 24, the last pair of 500-meter-long rails was laid at the entrance of the Junlian Tunnel of the Chongqing-Kunming High-speed Railway. Photo by Chen Chang

The Chongqing-Kunming High-Speed Railway passes through the geologically complex Wumeng Mountains, with strong terrain cuts and huge terrain undulations along the way. "Facing complex geology, long tunnel groups, and continuous long ramps, we have developed and applied a complete set of technologies for track laying, braking and fine adjustment of long ramps, and are equipped with advanced tooling equipment and intelligent monitoring systems to ensure the safety and accuracy of track laying." said Zhang Yan, technical director of track laying construction of the Chongqing-Kunming High-speed Railway of China Railway 16th Bureau.

With the completion of track laying along the entire line, the main offline projects of the Chongqing-Kunming High-speed Railway and the decoration of the new station buildings have been completed, and the improvement of the off-road environment and the construction of municipal supporting projects have been accelerated. In the next step, it will enter the static acceptance and joint debugging and testing stages in sequence, and it is expected to be ready for operation in the first half of 2027.

After the Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railway is put into operation, the driving time from Chongqing to Kunming will be reduced to about 2.5 hours, and the fastest time from Chengdu to Kunming will be reduced to less than 3 hours. (over)