Hangzhou–Nanchang high-speed railway or Hangchāng HSR is a dual-track, electrified, high-speed rail line between Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Huangshan, Anhui and Nanchang, Jiangxi. It can be divided into the Hangzhou–Huangshan section (Hangzhou–Huangshan HSR or Hanghuang HSR) and the Huangshan–Nanchang section (Nanchang–Huangshan HSR or Changjinghuang HSR). The Hangzhou-Huangshan section runs 265 km through northwestern Zhejiang and southern Anhui and accommodates trains traveling at speeds up to 250 km/h. Travel time from Hangzhou to Huangshan was reduced to about one and one-half hours. The line is the first rail link between the two cities and brings counties in mountainous southern Anhui closer to the Yangtze River Delta region. Construction began on 30 June 2014, and the line opened on 25 December 2018. The Huangshan–Nanchang section is located in northeast Jiangxi and southern Anhui. It starts from Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province in the west, passes through Jingdezhen City, and ends in Huangshan City, Anhui Province in the east. The main line is 290 km-long and the connecting line is 29 km-long. The total investment approved in the preliminary design of the project was 47.045 billion yuan. It was built as passenger dedicated line and a maximum operating speed of 350 km/h. It opened to traffic on 27 December 2023.

Route

The high-speed rail line connects southern Anhui Province with Hangzhou, on the eastern seaboard, via northwestern Zhejiang province. Cities and counties along the route include Hangzhou, Xiaoshan, Fuyang, Tonglu, Jiande, Chun'an in Zhejiang, and Jixi, She County, Huangshan, Yixian, Qimen, Fuliang, Jingdezhen, Leping, Poyang, Yugan, Jinxian and Nanchang. Scenic sites along route include Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), the "Porcelain Capital" of Jingdezhen, the ancient villages in southern Anhui, Qiandao Lake, and Hangzhou.

History

The Hangzhou–Huangshan HSR project was initially approved by the State Development and Planning Commission in July 2010. Construction was to begin later in that year and was scheduled to be completed by as early as 2013. After two rounds of environmental assessments of surveys in 2010 and 2011, the project was revised. In August 2013, planners announced that the route would run 183.4 km in Zhejiang and 81.7 km in Anhui with 10 stations, including eight new stations. Two stations, Shexian South and Sanyang, were added to the original plan, which had Hangzhou East, Hangzhou South, Fuyang, Tonglu, Jiande, Chun'an, Jixi North, and Huangshan North. The Jiande-to-Jixi section of the line would use seamless steel rails laid on a concrete rail bed. The Hangzhou South-to-Jiande and Jixi-to-Huangshan sections would have rail laid on conventional gravel beds. The design speed of the railway was changed from an initial speed of 250 km/h with expansion capability for 350 km/h operation to 250 km/h without any expansion capability to higher speeds. Construction began on June 30, 2014, and the line was opened on December 25, 2018.

Huangshan–Nanchang section

In early 2015, the city of Jingdezhen proposed to include a Huangshan–Nanchang high-speed railway in the national plan. On 13 July 2016, the national government issued a notice on the issuance of the "Medium and Long-Term Railway Network Plan". The Medium and Long-Term Railway Network Plan (2016) in the notice confirmed the construction of the Nanchang–Jingdezhen–Huangshan section of the high-speed railway connecting line. On 21 June 2018, the Second Public Notice and Simplified Version of the Environmental Impact Assessment of the New Nanchang–Jingdezhen–Huangshan Railway was published. On 9 July, the Full Public Notice of the Environmental Impact Report of the New Nanchang-Jingdezhen-Huangshan Railway was published. On 27 September, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment approved the project. On 17 October, the preliminary design of the project was jointly approved by China Railway, Jiangxi Provincial People's Government, and Anhui Provincial People's Government. On 25 December 25, Jiangxi Provincial Party Secretary Liu Qi and Governor Yi Lianhong attended the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the Huangshan–Nanchang high-speed railway (Jiangxi Section) in Jingdezhen. The total investment in the Jiangxi section is RMB 34.713 billion. The planned construction period was 4 years. It was expected to be completed and put into operation in April 2023. On 26 April 2023, the entire Huangshan–Nanchang high-speed railway was completed. On 26 October, the entire line began trial operation. On 27 December 023, the Huangshan–Nanchang high-speed railway was officially opened to traffic. At that time, the fastest travel time from Nanchang to Jingdezhen was about 50 minutes, and the fastest travel time from Nanchang to Huangshan was 1 hour and 45 minutes.