Harbin-Jiamusi express rail line to start operation in September

HARBIN - A new express rail line linking the cities of Harbin and Jiamusi in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province will come into operation in September.

China Railway Harbin Group said Wednesday that trials of the rail line had been launched in May. Rail tracks, roadbeds, bridges, tunnels, power, communication, signals and customer services are being tested. All trials are expected to be finished in August.

The 340-km-long Harbin-Jiamusi express railway, built in a region where the temperature could be as low as minus 30 degrees celsius in winter, is designed to allow trains to run at 200 kilometers per hour, cutting the travel time to 110 minutes from about 360 minutes.

China's railway network is expected to hit 175,000 km in length by 2025, compared with 127,000 km of operating tracks by the end of last year.