The Chongqing East to Qianjiang section of the Chongqing-Xiamen High-Speed Railway, a key part of China's high-speed rail network, began operation on Friday.
The Chongqing East to Qianjiang section starts at Chongqing East Railway Station and passes through the areas such as Nanan District, Wulong District, and Qianjiang District. It connects to the Qianjiang Railway Station of the Qianjiang-Zhangjiajie-Changde high-speed railway.
The main line is 242 km long, with a designed speed of 350 km per hour. Travel time from Chongqing to Changsha can be as short as three hours and 53 minutes, which is another fast passenger transport route between the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area.
"With the opening of the high-speed railway, travelers can reach Zhangjiajie from Chongqing East in two and a half hours and get to Changsha from Chengdu East in about six hours. This has established a new transport corridor connecting Chengdu, Chongqing, and Hunan, which is important for promoting rapid socio-economic development in the region," said Yang Zhiyong, commander of the Wulong Command Center of the Chongqing-Guizhou Chongqing-Wanzhou Railway Company.
New section of Chongqing-Xiamen high-speed railway starts operation
An increasing number of German consumers are considering buying electric vehicles (EVs) in the face of high fuel prices, according to a recent survey by the largest German online car trading platform, mobile.de.
As the Middle East tensions continue to drive up international oil and gas prices, the cost of automotive fuel has been rising steadily in many European countries.
According to fuel price data compiled by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, since the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on February 28, gasoline prices in Germany have risen by nearly 20 percent, while diesel prices have shot up by more than 30 percent.
Results from a recent survey by mobile.de show that if gasoline prices remain at current high levels, 43 percent of respondents said they would switch to EVs, and 36 percent cited long-term cost savings as the most important reason for considering an EV purchase.
Additionally, the platform's data show that inquiries about used EVs surged by 66 percent in the first half of March.
"We are absolutely seeing much more interest on mobile.de for electric cars. What the German energy transition couldn't do, this current geopolitical situation has done in terms of transition to electric cars," said Ajay Bhatia, CEO of mobile.de.
In addition to high oil prices, government subsidies are also a key factor driving German consumers to consider purchasing EVs.
The German government announced the resumption of subsidies in January of this year, planning to invest 3 billion euros over the next few years to provide purchase subsidies for some 800,000 EVs.
Driven by the combined effects of high oil prices and subsidy policies, German consumers' interest in EVs has grown clearly. However, it remains to be seen whether this shift will evolve into a more sustained market trend.
"How long it will stay is anyone's guess, but at the moment we're absolutely seeing an increase, and sometimes these transitions need a catalyst. And this is definitely a catalyst that is seeing the transition to electric cars speed up," said Bhatia.
More Germans interested in buying EVs due to high oil prices: survey
