Why does the world's fastest high - speed train run between Chengdu and Chongqing?

The high - speed rail with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour is coming.

Recently, the State Council Information Office held a series of themed press conferences on "High - quality Completion of the 14th Five - Year Plan". An Lusheng, the deputy director of the National Railway Administration, introduced at the conference that the Chengdu - Chongqing Middle Line High - speed Rail, which is currently under construction, will be opened in 2027. After its opening, it will operate at a speed of 400 kilometers per hour. By then, the journey between Chengdu and Chongqing will be completed in 50 minutes.

This is also the "fastest high - speed rail" in the world today and is regarded as a sign that China's high - speed rail technology has once again entered the "uncharted territory". Why was the Chengdu - Chongqing area selected? What changes will it bring to the local area after its implementation?

With the spread of this news, there are also discussions and expectations among the public: Will the high - speed rail with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour be gradually promoted to other regions in China? Which regions will be the first to implement similar projects?

Yang Xiaoguang, a tenured professor at Tongji University and the director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Research Center, analyzed for reporters from Times Weekly that from the perspective of the current maturity of high - speed rail technology and future development, high - speed rails with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour, or even 600 kilometers per hour or 1000 kilometers per hour, can be realized in the future. However, how to layout and increase the speed of high - speed rails is a systematic issue that requires comprehensive consideration of engineering and technical levels, passenger transport demand, cost, benefits, and sustainability in a longer - term perspective.

Why the Chengdu - Chongqing Area?

Currently, there are two operating high - speed rail lines between Chongqing and Chengdu.

One is the Chengdu - Suining - Chongqing Railway, which was opened in 2009 and operates at a speed of 200 - 250 kilometers per hour. The other is the Chengdu - Chongqing High - speed Rail, which was opened in 2015 and operates at a speed of 200 - 350 kilometers per hour. This is also the fastest main passage between the two places at present.

An Lusheng introduced at the press conference that a high - speed rail departs every 9 minutes between Chongqing and Chengdu, and the number of people traveling between the two places now exceeds 1 million per day.

Reporters from Times Weekly logged on to the 12306 platform and found that the current travel time of high - speed rails between Chongqing and Chengdu ranges from more than one hour to more than two hours. Among them, the fastest train can complete the journey between Chengdu East Station and Chongqing West Station in 1 hour and 7 minutes. The fares of high - speed rails between the two places range from more than 90 yuan to more than 200 yuan.

With the completion and opening of the Chengdu - Chongqing Middle Line High - speed Rail in 2027, the travel between Chengdu and Chongqing will be further accelerated, and the fastest journey can be completed in 50 minutes, officially entering the "one - hour economic circle".

Public information shows that the Chengdu - Chongqing Middle Line High - speed Rail is an important part of the Yangtze River Channel in China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high - speed rail network. The line starts from Chongqing North Station in the Chongqing hub, passes westward through Yubei District, Shapingba District, Bishan District, Tongliang District, and Dazu District in Chongqing, and Ziyang City and Chengdu City in Sichuan Province, and finally reaches Chengdu Station in the Chengdu hub. The total length of the main line is 292 kilometers.

Currently, the highest operating speed of commercially - operated high - speed rails in the world is 350 kilometers per hour. The Chengdu - Chongqing Middle Line High - speed Rail, which is planned to operate at a speed of 400 kilometers per hour, will be the fastest high - speed rail in China and even in the world. Then, why is the fastest high - speed rail being implemented in the Chengdu - Chongqing area first?

In fact, in 2021, the China State Railway Group issued the "14th Five - Year Plan for Railway Science and Technology Innovation", which clearly stated that infrastructure engineering technology verification for the CR450 (a high - speed train with a test speed of 450 kilometers per hour and a commercial operation speed of 400 kilometers per hour) scientific and technological innovation project would be carried out relying on projects such as the Shanghai - Wuhan - Chengdu Yangtze River High - speed Railway. The newly - built Chongqing - Chengdu section of the Shanghai - Wuhan - Chengdu High - speed Railway is exactly the Chengdu - Chongqing Middle Line High - speed Rail.

Subsequently, the Chengdu - Chongqing Middle Line High - speed Rail, which started construction in 2022, became China's first high - speed railway with conditions reserved for a speed of 400 kilometers per hour.

Yang Xiaoguang analyzed that the implementation of a high - speed rail with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour not only requires mature technical support, but also the implementation environment and conditions need to meet the following requirements: First, the distance between stops should be appropriate. If the distance between stations is too short, the train will have to stop soon after starting, and this frequent acceleration and deceleration will result in an insignificant speed - increase effect and high energy consumption. The distance between Chengdu and Chongqing is about 300 kilometers, which is relatively suitable.

Second, high - speed trains with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour relatively require straighter high - speed rail lines. Compared with the Beijing - Tianjin - Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Greater Bay Area, there are relatively fewer built - up areas between Chengdu and Chongqing, which is beneficial for the planning and layout of straight high - speed rail lines. In addition, although there are many mountains and valleys between Chengdu and Chongqing, straight high - speed rail lines can be achieved through building tunnels and bridges.

Yang Xiaoguang also pointed out that the large passenger flow between Chengdu and Chongqing also guarantees the operating benefits of the Chengdu - Chongqing Middle Line High - speed Rail to a certain extent after its completion and opening.

Accelerating the Integration of Chengdu and Chongqing

From the perspective of regional development, the early layout of a high - speed rail with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour also aims to further accelerate the integration of Chengdu and Chongqing and even the Chengdu - Chongqing Economic Circle.

In recent years, China has been accelerating the construction of a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the mainstay and the domestic and international dual - cycles reinforcing each other. Against this background, as an economic high - ground in central and western China, Chengdu and Chongqing are located at the intersection of the "Belt and Road" and the Yangtze River Economic Belt and are the starting point of the New Western Land - Sea Corridor. Their strategic and economic status has been further enhanced.

In 2020, the concept of the Chengdu - Chongqing Twin - City Economic Circle was proposed for the first time and elevated to a national strategy. In 2021, the "Outline for the Construction of the Chengdu - Chongqing Twin - City Economic Circle" (hereinafter referred to as the "Outline") was released, which means that the construction of the twin - city economic circle is about to enter a stage of full - scale acceleration. In the same year, the "Outline for the National Comprehensive Transport Network Plan" was released, and the Chengdu - Chongqing Twin - City Economic Circle is listed alongside the Beijing - Tianjin - Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area as one of the four major international comprehensive transport hub clusters in China.

Reporters from Times Weekly sorted out the layout of rail transit in the Chengdu - Chongqing Economic Circle in the "Outline" and roughly summarized it into three main directions: First, strengthen the connection between the "two cores", namely Chongqing and Chengdu; second, strengthen the connection between the core cities and surrounding small and medium - sized cities; third, build high - speed rail channels out of Sichuan and Chongqing to strengthen exchanges with other important city clusters and metropolitan areas.

In terms of the connection between the "two cores", the above - mentioned "Outline" mentioned that "the journey between Chongqing and Chengdu should be completed within 1 hour". Currently, the high - speed rail travel between Chengdu and Chongqing can be completed in more than one hour. With the opening of the Chengdu - Chongqing Middle Line High - speed Rail in 2027, the high - speed rail travel time between Chengdu and Chongqing can be shortened to less than 1 hour, that is, 50 minutes.

In addition, for China's high - speed rail industry, the future commercial implementation of high - speed rails with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour will also become a "golden signboard" for China's high - speed rail to go global.

Xie Xiaowen, an expert member of the New Technology Promotion Branch of the China Transport Association, pointed out to reporters from Times Weekly that from an economic perspective, in addition to the ticket revenue from passenger transportation and the driving effect on urban economy, the way for high - speed rails to generate benefits in the future should be the innovation of the high - speed rail business model, that is, to open up the global high - speed rail construction market.

"Having the world - leading high - speed rail operating speed represents, to a certain extent, having the world - leading high - speed rail technology level and allowing China to set the world's high - speed rail standards. This can be said to be the best marketing for China's high - speed rail to go global."

Significant Increase in the High - speed Rail Mileage in Sichuan and Chongqing

Let's turn our attention to the Sichuan and Chongqing areas.

In addition to the early layout of the fastest high - speed rail, the total high - speed rail mileage in the local area has also "turned around" in recent years.

Xie Xiaowen pointed out that for a long time in the past, the construction of high - speed rails in Sichuan was slow because there are many high mountains and complex geological conditions, which increased the difficulty and cost of high - speed rail construction. "In addition, Sichuan's economic foundation was relatively weak at that time, and the planning was lagging behind. There was still a gap in local economic development compared with the eastern coastal areas, and the financial and technical support was relatively insufficient."

Some also believe that according to the "1000 - kilometer theory" in the field of public transportation, high - speed rails are more competitive within 1000 kilometers, while aviation has an advantage beyond 1000 kilometers.

Located in the south - western hinterland of China, Sichuan and Chongqing are quite far from key city clusters such as the Beijing - Tianjin - Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area, which are more than 1000 kilometers away. Taking a plane is a more cost - effective choice to travel to these places, which also made the high - speed rail construction in the local area relatively weak in the early years, while civil aviation construction was more developed.

However, thanks to the improvement of the strategic status and the development achievements of the economic industry in recent years, the high - speed rail mileage in Sichuan and Chongqing has increased significantly.

From a data perspective, at the end of 2024, the operating mileage of high - speed rails in Chongqing was 1170 kilometers, ranking 19th in the country. In contrast, five years ago, at the end of 2020, the operating mileage of high - speed rails in Chongqing was 896 kilometers, ranking 21st in the country.

The situation in Sichuan is even more obvious. At the end of 2024, the operating mileage of high - speed rails in Sichuan was 2497 kilometers, ranking 5th in the country. Both the operating mileage and the ranking are firmly in the first echelon in the country. It should be noted that at the end of 2020, the operating mileage of high - speed rails in Sichuan was only 1577 kilometers, ranking 13th in the country.

On the other hand, "high - speed rail access to every city" is often used as an indicator to evaluate the high - speed rail coverage rate of a province. As of now, 11 provinces in the country have achieved "high - speed rail access to every city". Although Sichuan's high - speed rail mileage is in the first echelon in the country, there are still several prefectures and cities in the province that do not have high - speed rail access.

Specifically, reporters from Times Weekly sorted out and found that among the 21 prefectures and cities under Sichuan's jurisdiction, 7 do not have high - speed rail access, and the cities without high - speed rail access are mainly located in western Sichuan. This is because there are many high mountains in western Sichuan, and the cities are small in scale and have a low population density. For a long time, for this type of cities, the cost of high - speed rail construction was quite high, and airports were a more cost - effective choice.

However, considering the complex terrain in the relevant areas and the great difficulty of high - speed rail implementation, if electric multiple units with a speed of 160 - 200 kilometers per hour are also included in the "high - speed rail" statistics, only Aba Prefecture and Ganzi Prefecture in Sichuan do not have high - speed rail access; if the under - construction high - speed rail lines are included in the statistics, by 2027, 20 prefectures and cities in Sichuan can have access to high - speed rails or electric multiple units.

Xie Xiaowen believes that "high - speed rail access to every city" is an important indicator to evaluate railway construction, but it is not the only standard. "In addition to high - speed rails, more suitable transportation planning, such as the development of expressways and aviation, can also be considered in western Sichuan to meet the travel needs of local residents. At the same time, the transportation connection and cooperation between regions can also be strengthened to improve the coverage and accessibility of the overall transportation network."

Yang Xiaoguang also pointed out that whether a region has high - speed rail access, and the operating speed and departure frequency after high - speed rail access, depend crucially on the travel demand of the relevant region. On the basis of the basically formed national high - speed rail network layout, the planning of new high - speed rail lines needs to comprehensively consider the transportation benefits and operating costs to ensure the efficiency, quality, and sustainability of high - speed rail operation.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Duchengji Studio". Author: Zeng Siyi, Editor: Liang Li. Republished by 36Kr with permission.