New Chengdu-Kunming Railway brings happiness, prosperity to areas along the route after one year of operation

1. Passengers pose for a picture in front of the Xidexi Railway Station in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/Gong Xuan)

2. Tourists take pictures of a CRH (China Railway High-speed) train as it runs on a bridge in Xichang city, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/He Silin)

3. A Fuxing bullet train (left) on the new Chengdu-Kunming Railway and a freight train on the old Chengdu-Kunming Railway run parallel to each other in Ganluo county, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/Song Haoxin, Zhang Jianzhong)

4. Jianchang ancient city in Xichang city, southwest China's Sichuan Province is crowded with tourists after the new Chengdu-Kunming Railway goes into operation. (Photo/She Gang)

On Dec. 26, 2023, a railway connecting Chengdu and Kunming, two major cities in southwest China, celebrated its one-year anniversary of operation.

According to China Railway Chengdu Bureau Group Co., Ltd., the railway operated an average of 41 passenger trains on a daily basis during the past year. On its busiest day, it handled a record 104,000 passenger trips, with a total of over 20 million passenger trips made throughout the year.

The railway, spanning 915 kilometers, has greatly enhanced travel and freight transportation for residents along the route, bringing about resource development and injecting fresh energy into supporting the accelerated development of ethnic areas. It also plays a vital role in promoting comprehensive rural revitalization and advancing high-level opening-up.

The old Chengdu-Kunming Railway mainly passed through challenging mountainous terrain. The new railway follows a similar route, but with upgraded features such as increased speed and improved travel convenience. The introduction of high-speed trains has not only enhanced the conditions and velocity of the trains, but also elevated the overall travel experience for passengers.

Aniu Shijin grew up in a town in Ganluo county, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan. At the age of about 10, she left the mountains for the first time, taking a train ride of more than four hours to Xichang city to attend high school. In 2020, she was admitted to Sichuan Agricultural University and traveled from Ganluo county to Shimian county by car, followed by a transfer to reach the campus in Ya'an city.

The new railway has made the commute to school easier for students like Aniu Shijin.

"High-speed trains bring in more tourists from various regions and allow the products from my hometown to reach distant markets. As a biotechnology major, I'm confident in my ability to contribute to the development of my hometown," said Aniu Shijin.

In April, cherries in Panzhihua city and Xichang city reach their peak ripeness. The cherries are known for their impressive size, vibrant hues, and exquisite taste. However, due to their short picking season and delicate nature, transporting them poses a major challenge for delivery companies.

In April 2023, a train loaded with cherries departed from Panzhihua South Station. Railway staff loaded 10 packages of cherries, weighing 250 kilograms, into the designated carriage of the C72 high-speed train.

"The cherries are usually picked from the cherry orchards at around 6 a.m. The high-speed train is fully air-conditioned, providing suitable storage conditions for them. For express shipments with longer transit times, ice packs or bottles are added to the packaging to keep the cherries cool," explained Mou Yujuan, manager of the Panzhihua division of the Chengdu branch of China Railway Express Co., Ltd.

Yao Zhouyong, a fruit farmer from Huangcao village in Miyi county, Panzhihua city, manages a cherry orchard. In the cherry harvest season of 2023, Yao achieved an impressive income of over 120,000 yuan ($16,740). Thanks to the convenient transportation, cherries from Yao's village are now reaching faraway markets, and the brand is gaining widespread recognition.

The total cherry output value has exceeded 100 million yuan during a bountiful year, said Lu Qilin, Party chief of Huangcao village.

In November 2023, a test train departed from Xichang South Station to Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province. The train was loaded with agricultural and specialty products from Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. This milestone marked the first time Liangshan's agricultural and specialty products were transported to the eastern coastal areas on container trains.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday in 2023, scenic areas in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture welcomed a total of 1.75 million tourist visits, marking an impressive increase of 802.68 percent year on year.

Additionally, the opening of the railway has significantly reduced the transportation time for freight from Chengdu to Panzhihua, cutting it from 28 hours to 13 hours. The operation of the new and old railways has expanded the capacity for freight transportation.

Pangang Group Co., Ltd. is a major producer of heavy rails in China, holding a market share of nearly 40 percent for steel rails domestically and accounting for approximately 70 percent of the country's steel rail exports.

Railway transportation is the preferred logistics option for Pangang due to its large capacity and high transportation safety requirements. Pangang's 100-meter and 25-meter steel rails are transported nationwide by rail or through rail-sea intermodal transportation to Southeast Asian countries.

In December 2023, China Railway Chengdu Bureau Group Co., Ltd. signed a logistics contract with Pangang, and was entrusted with the transportation of 23.36 million tonnes of goods in 2024. The new and old Chengdu-Kunming railways play a crucial role in this innovative service.

The new and old Chengdu-Kunming railways provide a significant amount of freight capacity for southbound transportation in Sichuan, offering opportunities to enhance the efficiency of southbound China-Laos freight trains.

The new Chengdu-Kunming Railway serves as a link between the Chengdu railway hub, which includes the China-Europe freight train service operated by Chengdu and Chongqing in the north, and the China-Laos Railway through the Kunming railway hub in the south, said Tang Jiqiang, a professor at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.