NE China opens railway line in border city
2015-06-29
A?new railway line for the Jilin-Tumen-Hunchun area of Jilin province underwent a trial run, on June 26, hitting the highest speed of 250 km/hr on a 361-km route, which passes through eight cities, starting from the city of Jilin and heading all the way to Hunchun, the easternmost part of the province and the only city at the junction of three countries, China, Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Hunchun is in the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, populated by the Korean ethnic group and involved in a large amount of cross-border trade. The line helps improve the railway network of the region by connecting with lines to Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces and it is expected to play an important role in regional economic development, increasing tourism and cultural exchanges, and Jilin's connection with China's "Belt and Road Initiative".
The construction of the line also focuses on saving farmland, cutting the safety problems with pedestrians and vehicles crossing the line, and cutting travel distances through the use of tunnels through mountains and bridges.
