China's new high-speed railway link nears completion

The final leg of a new high-speed railway linking eastern China's Shandong province and Central China's Henan province will open on Thursday, reducing travel time dramatically by adding another major line linking central and eastern China, the national railway operator, the China State Railway Group, announced on Wednesday.

The 472-kilometer high-speed railway, with a design speed of 350 km/h, links Rizhao in Shandong with Lankao in Henan, reducing travel time to 2 hours and 26 minutes.

The new line runs through the cities, including Rizhao, Linyi, Jining and Heze in Shandong, as well as Shangqiu and Kaifeng in Henan. The section between Rizhao and Qufu was opened in November 2019, and the section between Qufu and Zhuangzhai was opened in December 2021. The 48-kilometer section between Zhuangzhai and Lankao is scheduled to open on Thursday.

The opening of the Rizhao-Lankao high-speed railway marks a significant milestone in regional transportation development as another high-speed corridor linking Shandong and Henan follows the Jinan-Zhengzhou high-speed railway, the company said.