New high-speed railway goes into operation in Yangtze River Delta

HEFEI -- A section of a new high-speed railway line was put into operation Tuesday in east China's Anhui Province to further boost the railway interconnectivity in the Yangtze River Delta.

The G8311 bullet train departed at 8:38 am from the Hefei South Railway Station in the provincial capital Hefei, marking the inauguration of the railway section between Hefei and the city of Anqing.

Five pairs of trains are currently in operation, which will be increased to 13 pairs daily from January 2021.

The fastest train can reach Anqing from Hefei in an hour and 13 minutes.

With a designed train speed of 350 km per hour, the 176-km Hefei-Anqing railway section is part of the future Beijing-Hong Kong high-speed railway, one of the country's rail arteries currently under construction.

The Hefei-Anqing section can help promote the development and regional integration of the Yangtze River Delta consisting of Shanghai Municipality and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, as it has connected multiple high-speed railway lines across the region.

Last year, China unveiled an outline for the regional integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, which is one of the country's most economically active, open and innovative regions, and produces about one-fourth of the national GDP.