Lanzhou–Urumqi High-Speed Railway

The Lanzhou–Urumqi High-Speed Railway, also known as Lanxin Second Railway, is a high-speed rail under construction in northwestern China. It will connect Lanzhou in Gansu Province and Ürümqi in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Construction work began on November 4, 2009. The 1,776-kilometre (1,104 mi) railway will take four years to complete, of which, 795 kilometres (494 mi) is in Gansu, 268 kilometres (167 mi) in Qinghai and 713 kilometres (443 mi) in Xinjiang. 31 stations will be built along the line. The project costs 143.5 billion yuan.^[1] Upon its completion, an overnight sleeper train is expected to connect Beijing to Urumqi, 3,450 km apart, in less than 12 hours.^[2]

Unlike the existing Lanxin railway, which runs entirely in Gansu and Xinjiang, the new high-speed rail will be routed from Lanzhou to Qinghai Province to Xining before heading northwest across the Qilian Mountains into the Hexi Corridor at Zhangye. The rail tracks in the section near Qilianshan Tunnel will be at 3,858 meters above sea level^[3], making it the highest high-speed rail track in the world. Trains will run at 350 kilometres per hour on the line.^[4][5]

Wind shed

Near Shanshan, the railway will go through the hundred-li wind zone, where desert wind constantly blows most days of a year. In 2007, strong wind overturned a train on the southern branch of Lanxin Railway, and four people were killed.^[6] A 67-kilometre long wind-protection gallery will be built in this region.

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