A key tunnel on the Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railway in Zhaotong City's Yiliang County of southwest China's Yunnan Province was dug through on Tuesday, marking the imminent transition to ballastless track construction of the railway.
The tunnel-boring indicates a 85 percent completion of tunnel projects in Yunnan section of the railway, and an over 95 percent completion in terms of bridge and tunnel projects.
Currently, subgrades, bridges, and tunnels of the railway are largely complete.
As a vital segment of the Beijing-Kunming Corridor of China’s "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed railway network, the Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railway, with the total length of 700 kilometers, includes over 388 kilometers in Yunnan, the province's first line with the speed at 350 kilometers per hour.
Upon completion, travel time between southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Kunming will be slashed from five hours to just over two hours, enhancing connectivity between southwest China and national networks, while boosting regional economic integration.
Tunnel boring of key southwest China high-speed train project complete
