Railways in Jilin: 40 years of commitment

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. In the past four decades, the country has risen from poverty to become the world's second-largest economy. As the country adopted what was then seen as an audacious policy to inject free-market thinking into its political and economic system, Jilin, a northeastern province of China, followed the central government's lead and embarked on its own strenuous journey towards prosperity, having now achieved a great deal in many areas. The impressive achievements made by Jilin in developing its local railway system are something that stands out in particular when looking at a full panorama of the great era.

Starting from scratch

In 1965, the largest railway manufacturing enterprise, the CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd, was founded during the first national Five Year Plan. However, it was not until the 1980s that the industry began to build modern railway carriages with steel, instead of wood. With limited knowledge of railway planning and management, and also no access to cutting-edge manufacturing technology, Jilin had to start from scratch when building a modern railway system.

In 1982, the central government highlighted how railway transportation had become a crucial factor in uplifting the welfare of the nation.

Before the 1990s however, the "green train", an old style train, had still been the main force behind China's transportation system, as well as the steam train.

Leaps and bounds

In 2010, the first high-speed railway in the northeastern part of China, the Changchun-Jilin-Hunchun Intercity Railway, finished construction, and was able to travel at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour with a transferring capacity of 586 passengers. It marked the beginning of the era of high-speed railways in Jilin province.

Three years later, in 2013, the world's fastest railway in China's coldest region, the Harbin-Dalian high-speed train pulled into Changchun West Railway Station. The technology applied on the railway ended up leading the global vehicle manufacturing industry.

Two high-speed railway lines that run along the border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea were built in 2015. Fast trains could reach Dandong on the Apnok River near the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Hunchun on the Tuman River.

Later in the same year, the high-speed rail linking Shenyang to Dandong in Liaoning province was completed and the line linking Changchun and Hunchun in Jilin province opened. Being dubbed the most beautiful line in northeastern China, the 360-kilometer-long Changchun-Hunchun line passes through several major cities in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture.

By the end of 2016, railway operation length reached 5,000 kilometers with a further 1,400 kilometers of railway under construction.

In 2017, an inter-city railway linking Changchun and Baicheng of northeastern China's Jilin province and Ulanhot in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region opened to the public. The 412-km-long railway begins in Changchun, passes Songyuan, Da'an, and Baicheng in Jilin and terminates in Ulanhot. It was the first cross-regional railway in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The average speed of the trains reached around 160 kilometers per hour.

The government of Jilin also finished construction of three high-speed railway programs -- Dunhua-Baihe, Shenyang-Baihe and Siping-Tonghua, with a total length of 600 kilometers.

Onwards and upwards

The opening of the railway lines brought cities closer together and enhanced their sharing of talented workers and logistics. They also help promote the development of Jilin's local tourism and the industrial transformation and upgrading of northeastern China. The history of railways in Jilin is the epitome of the province's forty years of social and economic development. Eyes are now on Jilin to see what the future of the dedicated province holds.