Shanghai-Nanjing intercity high-speed railway starts operation

The second Shanghai-Nanjing intercity high-speed railway along the Yangtze River opened for operation on Thursday, the China State Railway Group announced.

The railway starts at Nanjing South Station, running through cities in Jiangsu Province, including Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Wuxi, and Suzhou, and ending at Taicang Station. It then connects to the Shanghai railway hub via the Shanghai-Suzhou high-speed rail route.

It has a total length of 279 kilometers and a designated speed at of 350 kilometers per hour.

Credit: Shen Xinyi / SHINE

The new railway line will greatly reduce the travel time between cities within Jiangsu Province. The shortest travel time by rail between Nanjing South and Zhangjiagang, Changshu, and Taicang stations has been reduced to 1-1.5 hours, which is half the previous travel time.

For some of Jiangsu's economic powerhouse cities like Jintan and Jiangyin, access to the new rail link will eliminate them from the list of cities isolated from a national high-speed rail network.

In the initial stage of operation, the railway department has arranged 10 pairs of high-speed trains for the daily operation, including five pairs from Nanjing South to Shanghai Hongqiao, one pair from Nanjing South to Shanghai, three pairs from Nanjing South to Taicang, and one pair from Wuhu to Shanghai.