The section from Nanning to Yulin of the Nanning-Guangzhou High Speed Rail will be opened on December 30, marking Yulin entering the high-speed rail era.

The reporter from The Paper learned from China Railway Corporation Limited that the Nanning-Zhuhai High-Speed Rail (Nanning-Yulin section, referred to as the Nanning-Yulin section for short) will be put into operation on December 30th. This marks the entry of Yulin, Guangxi into the high-speed rail era. The fastest travel time between Nanning and Yulin has been reduced from 1 hour and 44 minutes to 48 minutes, which will inject new impetus into the regional economic and social development.

The Nanning-Zhuhai High-Speed Rail starts from Nanning City in the west of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and ends at Zhuhai City in the east of Guangdong Province, with a total length of about 648 kilometers and a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The Nanning-Yulin section starts from Nanning East Railway Station, passes through Nanning, Guigang, and Yulin, and ends at Yulin North Railway Station, with a total length of 193 kilometers. It has five railway stations: Nanning East, Luancheng, Hengzhou, Xingye South, and Yulin North. Among them, Nanning East Railway Station is an existing station while the others are newly built.

The Nanning-Yulin section crosses multiple rivers such as the Yu River and Yong River. With complex geological conditions along the route, the construction difficulty is great, and the ratio of bridges and tunnels in the line is up to 85%. Since the project started construction in December 2019, all participating construction units and builders have carried out the fighting spirit of “building roads across mountains and bridges over rivers”. They have increased research on scientific projects, strengthened safety, quality, and environmental protection control, and promoted project construction with high quality and efficiency. They have built 125 bridges including the Liuyu Yongjiang Railway Bridge and 38 tunnels including the Pingyue Tunnel to ensure the smooth completion of the project.

Before the opening and operation of the project, railway departments carefully organized relevant units to strictly implement various regulations and standards. They conducted joint debugging and testing, inspection and acceptance, and safety evaluation on the professional equipment of the Nanning-Yulin section of the high-speed railway. Comprehensive optimization adjustments were made to track conditions, catenary performance, train control system, communication signaling system. At present, this line meets the requirements for safe and stable operation of high-speed railway and is ready for opening and operation.

The Nanning-Yulin section operates at a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour. In the initial stage of opening operation, railway departments will arrange passenger train services according to daily lines and peak lines. There will be up to 16 daily bullet train services. The fastest travel time from Nanning East to Hengzhou and Xingye South is 29 minutes and 40 minutes respectively; from Nanning East to Yulin North is only 48 minutes which is 56 minutes faster than via the NanGuang Railway and LiZan Railway. To meet different travel needs of passengers, railway departments have implemented flexible discounts and differentiated market-oriented ticket pricing mechanisms on the Nanning-Yulin section of the high-speed railway to provide passengers with more travel options. The specific ticket price can be queried through Railway 12306 app or website.

The Nanning-Yulin section of the high-speed railway is an important part of connecting the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a fast passenger transport channel. It connects with Nanning railway hub at Nanning East Railway Station and links with the under-construction section of Yulin-Cixin on the high-speed railway at Yulin North Railway Station. This project plays a crucial role in regional network. Upon completion, it will further improve regional network layout, greatly facilitate people’s travel along the route, promote economic and social development along the line, strengthen regional interconnection, and promote high-quality development of Beibu Gulf Economic Zone.