Nanjing–Qidong railway

The Nanjing–Qidong railway (simplified Chinese: 南京–启东铁路; traditional Chinese: 南京–啟東鐵路; pinyin: Nánjīng–Qǐdōng tiělù), commonly referred to in short as the Ningqi railway (simplified Chinese: 宁启铁路; traditional Chinese: 寧啟鐵路; pinyin: Níngqǐ tiělù), is a railway in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. Its common name is derived from Ning, the one-character abbreviation for Nanjing and Qi, which refers to Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong. Despite its name, the railway currently runs as far as east as Nantong East railway station, and does not extend into Qidong itself, although this remaining section is under construction. At its present state, the railway is 268.3 kilometres (166.7 mi) in length. It runs along the northern bank of the Yangtze River, serving cities such as Yangzhou, Taizhou, and Hai'an. Passenger service is currently operated between Nanjing railway station and Nantong railway station only.[2]

Nanjing–Qidong railway
A train arrives at Yangzhou railway station.
Overview
Other name(s)	Ningqi railway
Native name	南京–启东铁路
Type	Intercity rail
Status	Operating
Locale	Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
Termini	Nanjing railway station Nantong East railway station
Operation
Opened	July 2005
Technical
Line length	268.3 kilometres (166.7 mi)[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	200 km/h
Route map Beijing–Shanghai railway from Shanghai Nanjing Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge Linchang Beijing–Shanghai railway to Beijing Getang Yinzhuang Luhe Yujiaying Yizheng Yangzhou Yangzhou East Jiangdu Taizhou West Taizhou Jiangyan Xinyi–Changxing railway from Xinyi Haianxian Xinyi–Changxing railway to Changxing Rugao Baipu Pingdong Shanghai–Nantong railway to Huangdu Nantong Nantong East Haimen North Fengshuncun Qidong Lusi

History

Planning for a railway along the north bank of the Yangtze River began as early as 1958. In 1977, the government of Jiangsu province designated the railway from Nanjing to Nantong as a project for completion within the next 10 years. Due to funding shortage and disagreement over route, the project was not built for 20 years. The project was revived in the late 1990s with the onset of construction on the Xinyi–Changxing railway, which was the first railway to be built in Jiangsu province north of the Yangtze River. In 2001, the Ministry of Railways approved plans for the Ningqi railway, and construction was built in two phases. The Nanjing to Hai'an section was built from March 1, 2002 to December 2003. The Haian to Yangzhou and Nantong sections were completed by July 2005.

A major upgrade project on the Nanjing–Qidong railway was completed in December 20, 2015. This involved the electrification of the railway line and building a second track. This was expected to halve the travel time from Nantong to Nanjing from the previous 3 hours 50 min to 1 hour 50 min.[3][4] EMU trains entered trial operation on May 6, 2016[5] and started revenue service from May 15, 2016.[6]

Plans were approved in 2012[7] for a cross-river connection from Nantong to the Shanghai metropolitan area (the Shanghai–Nantong railway). It will connect to the Nanjing–Qidong railway at Pingdong station (Chinese: 平东站; pinyin: Píngdōng Zhàn) on the northwestern outskirts of Nantong's urban core. Construction work on the Hutong Yangtze River bridge started on March 1, 2014.[8] The line was expected to open at the end of 2018,[9] but it was opened on July 1, 2020.

References

1. 宁启铁路复线电气化工程今年建成年底正式通车运营 (The length of the double-track and electrification project is 268.3 km.) (in Chinese)
2. 火车东站综合交通枢纽工程勘察设计总承包 (Nantong East station expected to begin operation with second phase of Ningqi railway).
3. 宁启铁路明年底改造完工; 南通至南京仅需两小时 (Ning–Qi railway upgrade to be completed by the end of the next year. Nantong to Nanjing in 2 hours.) 江海明珠网, 2013-10-27
4. 宁启铁路复线明年完工 南通到南京1小时50分钟 (Double-tracking of the Qi–Ning railway will be completed by the end of the next year. Nantong to Nanjing in 1 hour 50 min), 2013-11-13
5. 宁启铁路14对动车昨上线试跑 (in Chinese). 南京日报. May 7, 2016. Archived from the original on May 10, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
6. "Archived copy" 开通时间敲定 宁启动车周日开跑 (in Chinese). 新华日报. May 10, 2016. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/chinese-rail-projects-approved.html
8. 沪通铁路2013年正式开建 南通到上海仅需一小时 [Construction work on the Hu-Tong Railway will officially start in 2013. It will take just an hour to travel from Nantong to Shanghai] (in Chinese). December 24, 2012.
9. "沪通铁路嘉定安亭段预计2018年底通车". 东方网. 2018-02-24.