A bullet train passes Xuanhua North Station in North China's Hebei Province on Saturday, a station along the railway line linking Beijing and Zhangjiakou, Hebei. The railway is 174 kilometers long, including 70.5 kilometers in Beijing and 103.5 kilometers in Hebei. The line, which is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2019, is a major project for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Photo: cnsphotos

The high-speed railway line linking Beijing with Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei Province - a major project for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games - will be put into operation on Monday, China Railway Corp said over the weekend.

The 174-kilometer rail line is the first of its kind in China that is covered by China's self-developed Beidou Satellite Navigation System.

With a maximum design speed of 350 kilometers an hour, it will reduce the travel time between Beijing and Zhangjiakou from more than 3 hours to 47 minutes, promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Zhangjiakou is the co-host city for the 2022 winter games.

There will be 10 stations, and some stations will have facial recognition devices that allow passengers to enter the gates with their personal IDs, the Beijing News reported on Saturday.

Ticket sales for the rail line started at 6 pm on Saturday. After one minute, most of the tickets for trains departing on Monday were sold out. Tickets linking Beijing North station to Zhangjiakou station cost from 88 yuan ($12.58) to 266 yuan.

Some intelligent high-speed bullet trains will also run on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou rail line for experimental purposes, according to the Beijing News report.

The intelligent high-speed trains are upgrades of the Fuxing bullet train, able to achieve autonomous and intelligent driving. The trains have functions tailored for the 2022 Olympics, such as media cars that will livestream sports events, and racks for skis.

Construction of the railway started in April 2016, and trial operations begun on December 3.

The Chongli railway, a branch of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway, will also go into service on Monday. The 53-kilometer rail, with a maximum speed of 250 kilometers an hour, is also an important part of the 2022 Olympics transportation network.