Taiyuan–Zhongwei–Yinchuan Railway

The Taiyuan-Zhongwei-Yichuan Railway (Chinese: 太中银铁路) is a railway line in northern China, connecting Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, with Zhongwei and Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It is a double-track electric railway, opened in 2011.

Routing

The main line of the railway runs in the general east-west direction from Taiyuan to Zhongwei via Lüliang and Dingbian, serving a number of communities in western Shanxi, northern Shaanxi and Ningxia, many of which previously did not have rail service at all. The Dingbian-Yinchuan branch runs from Dingbian northwest, to Ningxia's capital city Yinchuan.

The railways also has a short dead-end branch from Lüliang to Lin County (Linxian) in the northwestern Shanxi.

In some areas (a section of the main line east of Dingbian, and the Dingbian-Yinchuan branch), the railway route roughly parallels the Great Wall of China.

Service

Together with the Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan High-Speed Railway, the Taiyuan-Zhongwei-Yichuan Railway provides a more direct route between Beijing and Ningxia than those that were available before. Together with the Zhongwei-Wuwei line in Ningxia and Gansu, it offers a shorter route between Beijing and Xinjiang than the more standard route via Zhengzhou and Lanzhou.^[1]

History

Construction started in May 2006. The railway was opened on January 11, 2011. It includes the 20-km long Lüliangshan Tunnel near Lüliang City in western Shanxi.

Rail junctions

• Taiyuan: Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan Railway, Taiyuan–Jiaozuo Railway, Shitai Passenger Railway
• Liulin:Shanxi–Henan–Shandong Railway
• Suide:Shenmu–Yan'an Railway
• Zhongwei:Baotou–Lanzhou Railway
• Yichuan:Baotou–Lanzhou Railway

References