Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway

This article is about the high-speed rail line operational since 2014. For the lower-speed rail line operational since 1966, see Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway.

The Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway, also known as Lanzhou–Xinjiang Passenger Railway or Lanxin Second Railway (simplified Chinese: 兰新铁路第二双线; traditional Chinese: 蘭新鐵路第二雙線; pinyin: Lánxīn tiělù dìèr shuāngxiàn), is a high-speed railroad in Northwestern China from Lanzhou in Gansu Province to Ürümqi in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It forms part of what China designates the Eurasia Continental Bridge corridor, a domestic high-speed railway corridor running from the city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu to the Kazakh border. The line is also shared with conventional trains.

Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway
A CRH5 high-speed train at the Menyuan railway station
Overview
Other name(s)	Lanzhou–Xinjiang Passenger Railway Lanxin Second Railway
Native name	兰新铁路第二双线
Status	Operational
Owner	China Railway
Locale	Northwest China
Termini	Ürümqi Lanzhou
Stations	31
Service
Type	High-speed rail Heavy rail
System	China Railway High-speed
Operator(s)	China Railway Lanzhou Group China Railway Qingzang Group China Railway Ürümqi Group
Rolling stock	CRH5G, CRH5E, CRH5G/H, CRHXD1D
History
Commenced	4 November 2009 (2009-11-04)
Opened	16 November 2014 (2014-11-16)^[1]
Completed	26 December 2014 (2014-12-26)
Technical
Line length	1,776 km (1,104 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	7,000 m (22,966 ft)
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead line
Operating speed	200–250 km/h (124–155 mph)^[2]^[3] 350 km/h (217 mph) (planned)^[4]
Maximum incline	2.0%
Route map Legend Baotou–Lanzhou railway & Longhai railway Lanzhou Baoji–Lanzhou high-speed railway Lanzhou West Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport ICR Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Gaojiashan tunnel Yellow River Fuchuan tunnel Chenjiawan West Gansu Qinghai border Minhe South Haidong Huangshui River Haidong West Xining Caojiabao Airport Lanzhou–Qinghai railway Xining Qinghai–Tibet railway Datong West Dabanshan tunnel Datong River Menyuan Haomen Qinghai Gansu border Qilianshan No. 1 tunnel Liuhuanggou bridge Qilianshan No. 2 tunnel Shandanmachang Minle G30 Zhangye West Linze South Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Gaotai South Qingshui North Jiuquan South G30 Jiayuguan South Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Jiayuguan tunnel Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Qingquan South Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Yumen Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway G30 Liugou South Shibandun South Liuyuan South G30 Hongliuhe South Hongliuhe Gansu Xinjiang border Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Yandun East Tudun No. 2 interchange Hami interchange Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Hami Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Liushuquan South Shisanjianfang Bridge Hongceng South Tuha G30 Shanshan North Turpan North Turpan Jiaohe Airport Daheyan Southern Xinjiang railway Dabancheng tunnel Dabancheng Wetland Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Yanhu West G216 Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Ürümqi South Ürümqi This diagram: view talk edit

History

Construction work began on November 4, 2009. The 1,776-kilometre (1,104 mi) railway took four years to complete, of which, 795 kilometres (494 mi) is in Gansu, 268 kilometres (167 mi) in Qinghai and 713 kilometres (443 mi) in Xinjiang. Track laying for the line was completed on November 16, 2013.^[5] Thirty-one stations will be built along the line. The project costs 143.5 billion yuan.^[6]

Unlike the existing Lanxin railway, which runs entirely in Gansu and Xinjiang, the new high-speed rail is routed from Lanzhou to Xining in Qinghai Province before heading northwest across the Qilian Mountains into the Hexi Corridor at Zhangye. The rail tracks in the section near Qilianshan No. 2 Tunnel are at 3,607 metres (11,834 ft) above sea level,^[7] making it the highest high-speed rail track in the world.

 

Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway is shown on the map as light-blue color line.

The first high-speed train traveled over this line on June 3, 2014. This was a test train with a media contingent with full revenue service not due to start until the end of 2014.^[8][9] The first segment of the line, the Ürümqi–Qumul part, was inaugurated on November 16, 2014.^[10] This high-speed railway segment is the first ever railway of that kind to exist in the Xinjiang autonomous region. The rest of the line opened on December 26, 2014. The line cuts train travel time between the two cities from 20 hours to 12 hours. It also freed up capacity on the older Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway for freight transport.^[11][12]

On November 30, 2017, the Daheyan connection line between the Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway and the conventional Southern Xinjiang railway opened near Daheyan Town (near Turpan railway station).^[13] This will allow passenger trains traveling from Urumqi to destinations in Southern Xinjiang (such as Korla) to use the Ürümqi–Turpan section of the high-speed line before switching to the Southern Xinjiang Railway.^[14]

On 5 December 2021, Shandanmachang railway station opened along the railway. At an elevation of 3,108 m (10,197 ft), it is the world's highest high-speed rail station.^[15]

Stations

City	Province	Station	Distance from Origin (km)
Lanzhou	Gansu	Lanzhou West railway station	0
Haidong	Qinghai	Haidong West railway station	163
Xining	Qinghai	Xining railway station	188
Menyuan	Qinghai	Menyuan railway station	286
Shandan	Gansu	Shandanmachang railway station	367
Minle	Gansu	Minle railway station	421
Zhangye	Gansu	Zhangye West railway station	485
Linze	Gansu	Linze South railway station	520
Gaotai	Gansu	Gaotai South railway station	556
Jiuquan	Gansu	Jiuquan South railway station	676
Jiayuguan	Gansu	Jiayuguan South railway station	697
Yumen	Gansu	Yumen railway station	823
Guazhou	Gansu	Liuyuan South railway station	986
Hami	Xinjiang	Hami railway station	1247
Shanshan	Xinjiang	Tuha railway station	1496
Shanshan	Xinjiang	Shanshan North railway station	1528
Turpan	Xinjiang	Turpan North railway station	1619
Ürümqi	Xinjiang	Ürümqi South railway station	1777
Ürümqi	Xinjiang	Ürümqi railway station	1786

Operational issues

Wind shed risk

See also: List of wind-related railway accidents

Near Shanshan, the railway passes through the hundred-li wind zone^{[clarification needed]}, where desert wind constantly blows most days of a year. In 2007, strong wind overturned a train on the southern branch of the older conventional rail Lanxin Railway, and four people were killed.^[16] A 67 kilometres (42 mi) long wind-protection gallery has been built next to the tracks in this region.^[17]

Engineering issues

Many sections of the line have experienced roadbed settlement, deformation, subsidence, frost heave, and cracking of the concrete of the track bed caused by saline soil, large temperature differences, and extremely low temperatures.^{[18][19][20][21]}

The 3,769-metre (12,365 ft)-long Zhangjiazhuang Tunnel, located between Minhe South and Ledu South stations, was damaged several times during operation. The tunnel is embedded in mudstone, interbedded with sandstone and gypsum rock.^[22] The top covering soil layer is loess. In 2016, the tunnel was damaged twice, closing the line for 3 months.^{[22][23][24][25][26]} After reopening, the operation speed in the tunnel was limited to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph). On December 24, 2018, the mountain above the tunnel deformed, but trains could initially continue operating. However, the next day, after further deformation, the tunnel was closed for thorough inspection.^[27][28][29] Due to repair works, the line was closed between Lanzhou and Xining until October 11, 2020. Trains were routed over the lower speed Lanzhou–Qinghai railway.^[30]

Earthquake damage

As a result of the January 2022 Menyuan earthquake, some bridges and tunnels on the line sustained serious damage.^[31] The section between Haomen and Qingshui North was halted until repairs could be completed.^[32]

Landslide

In September 2022, traffic on the line was suspended just north of Xining after a landslide caused the deck of a viaduct to shift.^[33][34]

Economics

An analysis of China's railway network published in 2021 showed that the Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway has the lowest utilization rate among all high-speed railways in the country, carrying, on average, merely 2.3 million passenger kilometers of service per kilometer of the mainline. In comparison, the average load over China's high-speed rail network is 17 million passenger-km per km, and the nation's highest-volume line, the Beijing–Shanghai one, carries 48 million passenger-km per km. According to the same analysis, a high-speed line would need to carry ca. 36 million passenger-km per km to fully pay its own operating costs. While the Lanzhou-Xinjiang line has the capacity to carry over 160 pairs of high-speed trains per day, it currently only carries 4.^[35]

As a result of the Belt and Road Initiative, freight transport along the Eurasian Land Bridge corridor increased and the conventional speed Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway sometimes hits capacity limitations, which has led some freight traffic to be shifted to the underutilized high-speed line.^[36]

References

1. Xinhua (November 7, 2014). "Xinjiang enters high-speed rail era". www.gov.cn. State Council of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
2. . Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
3. 兰新铁路第二双线哈密段完成投资超过50亿元. Tianshannet.
4. "Travellers say China's Gobi Desert high-speed rail doesn't live up to its name". November 18, 2021.
5. 陈博渊 (November 24, 2013). "Xinjiang to embrace era of high-speed rail". China.org.cn. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
6. 兰新铁路第二双线今日在乌鲁木齐开工 (in Chinese). November 4, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
7. [The world's highest high-speed railway tunnel - Qilianshan Tunnel completes]. Xinhua. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
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10. Cui Jia (November 5, 2014). "Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed line nears completion". ChinaDaily.com.cn. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
11. "Lanxin (Lanzhou−Xinjiang) High-Speed Rail Line - Railway Technology". www.railway-technology.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
12. "Around China: Xinjiang to embrace era of high-speed rail — Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America". www.fmprc.gov.cn. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
13. "南疆铁路与兰新铁路联络线11月30日将开通" [The connecting line of Southern Xinjiang Railway and Lanxin Railway will be opened on November 30]. Sohu.
14. 30日南疆铁路至兰新铁路联络线开通运行 (On the 30th [of November, 2017], the connecting line between the Southern Xinjiang Railway and the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway opens), 2017-11-25
15. "兰新高铁山丹马场站开通运营".
16. . China.org.cn. Xinhua News Agency. February 28, 2007. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
17. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzIxNjU4OTEy.html ^{[bare URL]}
18. 胡锐鹏; 张戎令; 王朦诗 (2018). "大温差戈壁地区高速铁路无砟轨道混凝土开裂研究". 硅酸盐通报.
19. 李伟 (2017). "兰新高速铁路路基沉降变形分析方法与评价". 中国住宅设施.
20. 张建渊; 胡海东; 沈鑫 (2018). "兰新高速铁路沿线盐渍土地基的溶陷特性". 铁道建筑. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1003-1995.2018.03.15.
21. 杨有海; 沈鑫; 于洪钦; 王财平 (2017). "兰新高速铁路高寒区段路基冻害分析与整治". 铁道建筑.
22. "【独家】实拍兰新铁路张家庄隧道所在山体开裂" (in Chinese (China)). 央视新闻. January 19, 2016.
23. 谭安丽 (January 22, 2016). (in Chinese (China)). 兰州晨报. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016.
24. 谭安丽 (January 31, 2016). . 兰州晨报. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016.
25. 谭安丽 (April 19, 2016). . 大陇网. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019.
26. 黄金光 (2017). "黄土隧道地质灾害抢险施工组织研究". 建筑机械化.
27. "兰新客专张家庄隧道所在山体变形 多趟列车停运" [The mountain where the Zhangjiazhuang tunnel of Lanxin Passenger Train is deformed and multiple trains are suspended]. 央视网. December 26, 2018.
28. "兰新高铁张家庄隧道发生地质灾害 青海境内三个高铁站停运". 中国新闻网. January 10, 2019.
29. . 新华网. February 5, 2019. Archived from the original on February 8, 2019.
30. "兰新高铁兰州至西宁段恢复通车 压缩丝路游时空距离" [The Lanzhou-Xining section of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed railway resumes opening to traffic and reduces the space-time distance of Silk Road travel]. October 14, 2020.
31. "青海6.9级地震致兰新高铁受损严重，西北多条铁路运行受影响|界面新闻". www.jiemian.com (in Chinese). Retrieved January 10, 2022.
32. "果断封锁线路！突发地震，铁路部门启动应急预案". 兰新高铁浩门至清水北
33. "受山体滑坡影响 兰新高铁西宁至门源段列车停运-新华网甘肃频道". gs.news.cn. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
34. "最新消息！兰新高铁再次停运！乌鲁木齐德汇万达、友好太百开始正常营业_腾讯新闻". new.qq.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
35. 赵一苇, 中国高铁建设“减油门”：重点是调整高铁与普铁的投产比例 (China's high-speed rail construction to slow down: the key is to adjust the ratio of high-speed rail to conventional rail development). 中国新闻周刊, 2021-04-20
36. 现代宝庆 (November 22, 2022). "兰新线通行效率偏低，未来可通过质改或新增重载线等，予以缓解！". k.sina.cn. Retrieved November 28, 2022.