On April 9, the first pile foundation of the Wangjiaqiao Town Grand Bridge in the Songzi section of the Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway was officially drilled, marking that this contract section has formally entered the main construction stage.

This is one of the key control works of the Songzi section project. The smooth drilling of the first pile foundation kicked off the main construction of the bridge.

This year, the Songzi section will mainly complete structural construction such as subgrade earthwork, CFG piles, threaded piles, and bridge pile foundations.

So how are the other sections of the Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway progressing?

According to media reports at the end of March, the preliminary work for the Yichang section of the Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway is also proceeding in an orderly manner, with land-use approval for the entire line and land acquisition and demolition currently underway.

There are a total of three pre-station engineering contract sections within Yichang for the Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway. The three construction contractors entered the site in December 2025 and are currently carrying out preliminary preparations for main construction, including construction of camps and ancillary facilities and processing of temporary land use.

It can be said that the Songzi section is the first within the Hubei section of the Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway to shift into the main construction stage.

In fact, the first pile in the Hunan section was drilled earlier than in the Hubei section. On March 27, the first pile foundation of the entire Hunan section of the Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway was officially drilled.

On April 2, the April work scheduling meeting for the Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway (Changde section) was held to comprehensively promote the substantive commencement of construction of key projects within the scope of the advance land use.

The time nodes for the Changde section are: all advance land use to be delivered and buildings demolished by April 10, and tasks for the relocation and modification of power, telecommunications, and broadcasting lines to be assigned and completed by April 15.

Judging from the construction progress of the entire Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway, the Hubei and Hunan sections are basically consistent. It can be foreseen that after the rainy season ends in April, that is, at the end of April and in May, the entire line will shift into main construction.

Of course, for Jingzhou, more people are concerned about what will happen to the Jingzhou connecting line now that the Yichang–Changde High-Speed Railway has started construction.Based on Jingzhou's latest planning and official replies, the Jingzhou connecting line has now been reclassified as a medium- and long-term project.

The key construction direction for Jingzhou's high-speed rail during the 15th Five-Year Plan is the Jingzhou–Yueyang High-Speed Railway, which is also the latest positioning set by Hubei Province.