High-speed rail extension connects long-isolated city

A southern extension of the Hangzhou-Taizhou High-Speed Railway, the country's first high-speed railway with private capital in control, officially opened to traffic on Saturday, ending a city's long isolation from the national rail network, and expected to boost tourism.

The 37-kilometer section, with a design speed of 350 km per hour, runs from Wenling to Yuhuan, two county-level cities in Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province. People at Yuhuan now have access to railway service.

With the new section in service, the journey between Wenling and Yuhuan now takes about 20 minutes, and around two hours from Yuhuan to Hangzhou, the provincial capital. For local residents, the benefits are clear.

"Whenever I needed to take a train, my father had to drive an hour to take me to Wenling Station to catch it," said Ye Yulu, a 33-year-old Yuhuan native working at a bank in Hangzhou.

"Now, with the direct train from Yuhuan to Hangzhou, we save all that time and avoid the traffic jams," she added. "It will make traveling to and from home much easier."

Running a public-private partnership model, the Hangzhou-Taizhou High-Speed Railway has carried more than 100 million passenger trips to date since beginning operations in January 2022. The new extension adopts a similar financing model, with a total investment of 7.62 billion yuan ($1.13 billion).

In addition, the new line helps connect with some of the most scenic coastal and ecological attractions in the region, including Shitang town in Wenling, Xuanmen Bay national wetland park and Dalu Island in Yuhuan, unlocking considerable tourism potential along the southeastern Zhejiang coast.

The transformative effect has already been visible in places along the Hangzhou-Taizhou High-Speed Railway, which travels through the three major cities of Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Taizhou, following a route much favored by Tang Dynasty (618-907) poets.

Xinchang county in Shaoxing city, for example, which had no railway access before 2022, received more than 5 million visits in the first half of 2026, with overnight stays exceeding 1.5 million, double the pre-railway figures.

The Ancient City of Taizhou saw visitor numbers rise from 7.77 million in 2022 to 24.89 million in 2025, with the share of out-of-town and overnight visitors increasing markedly, especially those from Shanghai, Nanjing and Suzhou in the Yangtze River Delta region, according to Chen Jian, chairman of Taizhou Fucheng Cultural Tourism Development Co, which manages the attraction.

"The Hangzhou-Taizhou High-Speed Railway has laid a solid transport foundation for us to expand visitor base," he said.

The Zhejiang Development and Planning Institute estimated that it has contributed 4 percent to the growth of the tourism industry in places along the rail line, about 3 percent to new job creation, and roughly 2 percent to regional GDP.

Thanks to the new Wenling-Yuhuan line, Yuhuan can be more easily integrated into cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou, where scientific and innovative resources are more concentrated, said Zeng Haipeng, deputy head of the city's development and reform bureau.

"Improved transportation means we are more attractive to high-level talent, investment and financing," he said. "Already, more local companies have stated their willingness to expand operations and investment projects are coming in."

chenye@chinadaily.com.cn