On November 13, sources from the Municipal Transport Bureau stated that as of the end of September this year, in the two years since Chongqing launched its construction of a strong transport city, a cumulative investment of 490.23 billion yuan had been completed; it is expected that by the end of this year, a cumulative investment of 529.31 billion yuan will have been completed, achieving the goal of transport investment growth exceeding expectations and becoming an important driving force for Chongqing's investment growth.

Sichuan and Chongqing have formed 26 water, highway and railway corridors

According to reports, since the implementation of the strong transport city construction, Chongqing has started and completed a total of 31 key transport construction projects, including 15 started projects and 16 completed projects.

The construction of these key transport projects has also promoted the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle's transport sector in basically achieving the "five integrations" of planning, construction, hubs, operations and governance. Between Sichuan and Chongqing, 26 water, highway and railway corridors have been formed, including 16 expressway corridors, 6 railway corridors and 4 waterway corridors, basically achieving one-hour accessibility between adjacent cities and one-hour direct access between Chengdu and Chongqing; an average of 125 EMU trains operate daily between Sichuan and Chongqing, and interprovincial intercity buses have reached 22 routes.

Nearly 1,000 kilometers of high-speed rail under construction

In terms of railways, since 2021, Chongqing has added 400 kilometers of railway operating mileage, including 184 kilometers of new high-speed rail mileage, exceeding 1,000 kilometers; the "rice-shaped" high-speed rail network has been fully rolled out, with nearly 1,000 kilometers under construction, the highest in history. This has directly driven a significant reduction in the time and distance of travel for residents: from the central urban area to Wushan shortened from 4 hours to 2 hours, to Zhengzhou from 8 hours to 4 hours, and to Beijing from 11 hours to about 7 hours.

In terms of rail transit, a major leap to 500 kilometers of operating mileage has been achieved; 288 bus routes have been newly added or adjusted in the central urban area, 38 community bus routes have been opened, and rail transit accounts for 52% of passenger travel share.

In terms of expressways, "expressways access to every county" has been fully achieved, with 600 kilometers of new mileage opened to traffic, exceeding 4,000 kilometers; a "three-ring, fourteen-radial, multi-link" expressway network has been built, with area density ranking first in western China.

At the same time, the Yangtze River upstream shipping center has basically taken shape, and the hub function of the shipping center has been accelerated and enhanced; 300 kilometers of thousand-ton-class waterways have been newly improved, reaching 1,100 kilometers; port throughput capacity has been increased by 5 million tons, reaching 210 million tons; more than 45% of port cargo throughput comes from neighboring provinces and cities, and the Yangtze River upstream shipping center has basically taken shape.‍

160 major projects planned for implementation in the next 5 years

The reporter learned that in the next 5 years, Chongqing will further accelerate the construction of a high-level strong transport city, with 160 major projects planned for implementation.

In terms of high-speed rail, by 2027, Chongqing aims to newly complete six high-speed rail projects: the Chongqing-Qianjiang section of the Chongqing-Hunan High-Speed Railway, the Chengdu-Chongqing Middle Line, Chongqing-Kunming, Chengdu-Dazhou-Wanzhou, Chongqing-Wanzhou High-Speed Railway, and Xi'an-Chongqing. At the same time, four high-speed rail projects will be newly started, including the Chongqing-Yichang High-Speed Railway, Qianjiang-Jishou High-Speed Railway, Jiulongpo-Chongqing East Station hub direct line and Chongqing-Guizhou High-Speed Railway, totaling 520 kilometers; the 130-kilometer West Ring Line of the Chongqing metropolitan area railway will be started, and preliminary work on high-speed rail projects such as Lanzhou-Chongqing and Wanzhou-Qianjiang will also be actively advanced.

At the same time, Chongqing will also expand and unblock the Yangtze River golden waterway, adding 200 kilometers of thousand-ton-class waterways to reach 1,300 kilometers, strive for the national launch of the construction of a new Three Gorges water transport channel during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, accelerate the improvement of trunk and branch waterways and the construction of port clusters, and add 40 million tons of port cargo throughput capacity to reach 250 million tons.

In addition, Chongqing will accelerate the construction of the "8 horizontal, 7 vertical, 1 ring and 9 connecting" express road network, newly build 1,000 kilometers of urban roads to reach 7,300 kilometers, strengthen the integrated connection of rapid corridors inside and outside the city, and accelerate the removal of bottlenecks in crossing mountains and rivers. For urban rail transit, it will promote the formation of a "ring-radial + vertical-horizontal" rail transit network, accelerate the completion of municipal railways such as the Bishan-Tongliang line and Yongchuan line, and basically form a "one-hour commuting circle" in the main urban metropolitan area.

By 2027, the level of the international comprehensive transport hub city will rise significantly, the combined benefits of multimodal transport hubs will be fully demonstrated, and Chongqing's radiating, driving and gathering effect on western China will be significantly enhanced. A modern comprehensive three-dimensional transport network will be basically completed, basically achieving the four one-hour transport circles of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and western Chongqing region, two-hour smooth travel within the municipality, three-hour access to surrounding provincial capitals, and six-hour access to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

By 2035, a strong transport city will be basically completed, Chongqing's transport "contribution" in the construction of a modern new Chongqing will be greatly enhanced, and it will become a pioneer in opening the way for the construction of a new Chongqing in the new era and on a new journey.