Datong–Xi'an Passenger Railway
Datong–Xian Passenger Dedicated Railway Line (simplified Chinese: 大同西安铁路客运专线; traditional Chinese: 大同西安鐵路客運專線; pinyin: dàtóngxīān tiělù kèyùn zhuānxiàn) or Daxi PDL (Chinese: 大西客运专线) is a dual-track, electrified, high-speed rail line, under construction in central China between Datong and Xian. It will run 859 km through Shanxi and Shaanxi Province and will accommodate trains traveling at speeds up to 250 km/h.[1] Travel time between the two terminal cities will be reduced from 16.5 hours to about three hours.[2] Construction began in late 2009 and is expected to cost Y96.3 billion.[2] The line was scheduled to be completed by 2013[2] or 2014.[1]
The Taiyuan-Xi'an section of the railway was opened on July 1, 2014; the Datong-Taiyuan section is expected to open in 2015.[3]
Route
The high speed rail line will run down the length of Shanxi Province from Datong in the north through Shuozhou, Xinzhou, the provincial capital Taiyuan, Jinzhong, Linfen and Yuncheng. It crosses the Yellow River at Yongji, enter Shaanxi and reach Xian via Weinan and Lintong.[1]
Together with the Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan High-Speed Railway, the Taiyuan-Xi'an section of the Datong–Xi'an Passenger Railway provides a potential more direct route for high-speed passenger trains between Beijing and Xi'an (and points west) than the usual route via Zhengzhou (1092 km via Taiyuan vs. 1212 km). However, as of early 2015, this route appears to be slower than the one via Zhengzhou, and does not seem to be used by any direct Beijing-Xi'an trains. Instead, some services run from Beijing via Taiyuan to the southwestern Shanxi (mostly Yuncheng), while others run between Taiyuan and Xi'an.
History
- Dec. 3, 2009: Construction commenced.[4]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (Chinese) "大同至西安铁路客运专线开建 运行时间仅约3小时" 中国新闻网 2010-10-29
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 (Chinese) [news.sina.com.cn/c/2010-10-30/015618306319s.shtml "大西高铁陕西段全面开工(图)" 华商网-华商报] 2010-10-30
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ (Chinese) "西安五年后4小时抵京5小时到沪高铁将直达乌市" 华商网-华商报 2010-01-29
