GUIYANG -- Starting Jan 26, the sacred revolutionary sites of Zunyi, Southwest China's Guizhou province, and Yan'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province will be linked by a direct high-speed rail service under the national railway schedule for the first quarter of 2026.

The adjustment will fill the gap in high-speed rail services connecting the southwestern regions of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Chongqing with Yan'an, according to China Railway Chengdu Group Co., Ltd. on Thursday.

The high-speed train ride from Zunyi to Yan'an will take just eight hours and 49 minutes, a big improvement compared to the original train, which took more than 16 hours. Meanwhile, the trip from Yan'an to Zunyi will only take eight hours and 7 minutes.

The railway authority revealed that starting Jan 27, two round-trip high-speed train services will operate between the two cities.

On Jan 25, 2018, the opening of the Chongqing-Guiyang Railway ushered Zunyi into the high-speed rail era. Subsequently, on Dec 26 last year, a new 299-km high-speed line connecting Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, and Yan'an began operations. With the launch of the new high-speed line, China, home to the world's largest high-speed rail network, had expanded its total operational mileage beyond 50,000 km.