With the two most populous cities in Guangxi directly linked by high-speed rail services on Monday, Yunlin ended its history of no access to high-speed rail and all cities in the Zhuang autonomous region in south China are now covered by the high-speed rail network.
The east-west high-speed rail line with the designed speed at 350 kilometers per hour, spans 193.31 kilometers and is the first high-speed railway fully funded by Guangxi.
"At the initial stage of operations, 18 high-speed trains are scheduled daily on this route, and the shortest travel time between Nanning and Yulin takes just 48 minutes, saving 56 minutes than before," said Li Longsen, head of the Yulin North Railway Station.
With the direct high-speed rail services between Nanning and Yulin started operation, all the 14 cities in Guangxi are covered by the high-speed rail network, with the total rail operational mileage in the region reaching to 5,865 kilometers.
"Major neighboring cities within Guangxi along the high-speed rail line can realize one-hour travel, while the travel from Nanning to any other city within the autonomous region can be realized in three hours. And high-speed trains departing from Guangxi can directly get to 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country that very day," said Zhao Yu, deputy director of the Transportation Department at China Railway Nanning Group.
The high-speed rail line between Nanning and Yulin also applies a series of novel technologies.
One example is the Yulin North Railway Station, the largest newly built properties on this line. The metal roof of the station has solar photovoltaic modules installed, with a usable area of 7,470 square meters.
"In the mode of self power generating for its own use, with surplus energy sent to the grid, the station saves about 480 tons of standard coal annually, and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,300 tons," said Liang Yi, chief engineer of the Yulin North Railway Station project.
Unmanned power substations are set throughout the rail line between Nanning and Yulin, as the control center in Nanning 100 kilometers away can oversee and manage all these substations, remotely performing telemetry, signaling, adjustment, monitoring and management.
"We have extensively used 3D modeling to calculate the engineering volume, drone aerial photography and panoramic technology application, which made the construction smarter," said Zhou Hengsong, deputy director at the Yulin station construction site under China Railway Nanning Group.
High-speed rail accesses to all Guangxi cities
