Jingbao railway

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The Jingbao railway (京包铁路) is a 833 km railway from Beijing to Baotou, Inner Mongolia in mainland China. It is a very important route in northwestern China.

The first section of this railway, Jingzhang railway was constructed between 1905 and 1909, connecting Beijing with Zhangjiakou. ^[1] This section was the first railway designed and built by Chinese. The chief engineer is Zhan Tianyou. He overcame the steep gradient near Badaling using a switchback. Due to his achievement in constructing this railway, Zhan is called the father of China's railway.

The railway was extended from Zhangjiakou to Hohhot by 1921 and to Baotou by 1923.

Even with the switchback, the gradient near Qinglongqiao railway station is still at 3.3%. In addition, travelling through the switch back is slow. A bypass route, Fengsha Railway was built in 1950s between Fengtai and Shacheng along the Yongding river. This route was dropped by Zhan due to high construction cost. Currently, the Fengsha railway is mainly used to transport cargos, and the original Jingzhang railway is focused on the passenger transportation. The Qinglongqiao railway station, where the switchback located, is the station serving the Great Wall near Badaling.

Both Jingbao railway and Fengsha railway are double track railway.