The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing will begin in a little over a year, but work is already beginning to take shape.
This is the case of the high-speed line linking Beijing to Zhangjiakou, which was inaugurated on 30 December 2019. The project was huge and the Chinese railway seems to have been up to the challenge. Indeed, the figures are impressive: 749 million dollars, 71 subsections, 64 bridges, 10 tunnels and 10 stations including the largest and deepest station in China at Badaling.
The results speak for themselves: travel time between Beijing and Zhangjiakou is reduced from 3 hours to 47 minutes with a train going up to 350 km/h and “intelligent”. Indeed, the train will run without a driver (but under supervision). The icing on the cake is that it will broadcast the games live on the tablets integrated into each seat.
In addition, there is a 53 km line at up to 250 km/h from Zhangjiakou to Taizicheng station (Chongli district) and a diversion to Yanqing. Both locations will host mountain events during the Games.
These new lines will also facilitate exchanges between the Chinese capital and the city of Zhangjiakou, which has a population of 4.5 million. These lines are part of the Chinese government’s desire to reduce the distances between the country’s major cities. Despite a still worrying world health situation, this new connection between the capital and the mountains should increase the population’s enthusiasm for winter sports in the run-up to the 2022 Olympic Games.
At the moment, the lines will run 5 times a day between Beijing and Yanqing and 10 times a day between Beijing and Taizicheng. There are no night trains scheduled so far.
VPI specialists have been working since early 2020 to secure rooms for you, including in the most remote places – don’t hesitate to ask us for offers or virtual site inspection!
