On November 22, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the "Public Notice on the Proposed Review of Environmental Impact Assessment Documents for Three Projects Including the Newly Built Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway," and will soon review the EIA documents for the newly built Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway (including the Qingdao connecting line) and the newly built Hefei-Wuhan High-Speed Railway.

The EIA documents for the Weifang-Suqian and Hefei-Wuhan high-speed railways were officially accepted by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on October 30 and October 12, respectively.

According to the EIA review timeline, the EIA reports normally take about 1-2 months from acceptance to approval. The EIA reports for the Weifang-Suqian and Hefei-Wuhan high-speed railways are expected to be approved in December.

EIA approval is an important prerequisite for the project's preliminary design approval, and the preliminary design of the projects is about to enter the approval stage.

Both projects are important components and key sections of the national "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail corridors—the Beijing-Shanghai Second Corridor and the Yangtze River Corridor. They are also key projects in the national "14th Five-Year Plan" railway development plan and the annual plan of China State Railway Group for construction starts within the year, and both are expected to officially commence construction before the end of December this year.

I. Hefei-Wuhan High-Speed Railway

The Hefei-Wuhan section of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway is an important part of the national high-speed railway network's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" main framework—the high-standard high-speed rail corridor along the Yangtze River. It is an intercity high-speed rail corridor from the Wuhan metropolitan area to the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, the Shandong Peninsula, and the southeastern part of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The National Development and Reform Commission approved the project's feasibility study report with document Fa Gai Ji Chu [2023] No. 496.

The project construction unit is China State Railway Group (Yangtze River Coastal Railway Group Co., Ltd.), and the environmental impact assessment unit is China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd.

The project line starts from the existing Shanghai-Chengdu Railway at K502+400 in the Hefei hub, extends westward through Lu'an City and Huanggang City, and reaches Wuhan City, where it connects to the Wuhan-Yichang section of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway at the Xingou West line station in Dongxihu District, Wuhan City.

The construction standard is high-speed railway, double-track, electric traction, with a design speed target of 350 km/h.

The newly built main line has a total length of 329.683 km (including 166.333 km in Anhui Province and 163.350 km in Hubei Province). There are 79 new bridges totaling 224.370 km, and 16 tunnels on the main line totaling 77.362 km, with a bridge-tunnel ratio of 91.6%. The controlling project of the entire line is the Dabie Mountain Tunnel, with a total length of 14.698 km. It also includes hub, regional, and supporting projects.

The Hefei hub-related projects include: reconstruction of the existing Shanghai-Chengdu Railway; new third and fourth lines of the Hefei-Wuhan bypass from New Hefei West to the Hejiu line station and related projects; new third and fourth lines of the Huainan Railway from Shuangdunji to the Dabaoying line station and related projects.

The Wuhan hub and Macheng area related and supporting projects include: the Xingou Southeast connecting line, the reserved Tianhe third and fourth line project, the new Hengdian East connecting line, the synchronous implementation project for the reserved Fuyang-Jiujiang high-speed railway introduction in the Macheng area (Zhongguanyi line station), and the reconstruction of the existing Wuhan-Macheng Railway in the Hong'an area.

The entire line has 7 stations: Lu'an North, Jinzhai East, Nanxi, Macheng North (co-located with existing station), Hong'an (co-located with existing station), Yangtze River New Area, and Wuhan Tianhe.

Two new EMU parking yards will be built: Jinzhai East EMU Parking Yard and Tianhe EMU Parking Yard. One existing EMU depot will be renovated: the Wuhan EMU Depot advanced repair and renovation project.

The total estimated project cost is 74.47 billion yuan, of which environmental protection measures are estimated at 840 million yuan, accounting for about 1.13% of the total investment. The planned total construction period is about 4.5 years.

II. Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway (including Qingdao Connecting Line)

The Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway and the Qingdao Connecting Line are components of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway auxiliary corridor and the Hefei-Qingdao High-Speed Railway corridor. The project construction is of positive significance for improving the regional high-speed railway network layout, alleviating the tension in transport capacity of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, and promoting the integrated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration, and the Yangtze River Delta region.

The National Development and Reform Commission approved the project's feasibility study report with document Fa Gai Ji Chu [2023] No. 603.

The project construction unit is China State Railway Group (Jinqin Railway Passenger Dedicated Line Co., Ltd.), and the environmental impact assessment unit is China Railway Design Corporation.

The Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway and the Qingdao Connecting Line are both passenger dedicated lines, double-track, electric traction, with a design speed target of 350 km/h.

The total project investment is approximately 97.82 billion yuan (75.147 billion yuan for the Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway and 22.669 billion yuan for the Qingdao Connecting Line), of which environmental protection investment is approximately 1.29 billion yuan. The planned total construction period is 4.5 years.

1. Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway

The line starts from Weifang North Station on the Jinan-Qingdao High-Speed Railway, passes through Anqiu City and Zhucheng City under Weifang City, Wulian County and Ju County under Rizhao City, Yishui County and Yinan County under Linyi City, and connects to Linyi North Station on the Rizhao-Lankao High-Speed Railway. It then extends south through Lanling County and Tancheng County under Linyi City, enters Xinyi City under Xuzhou City in Jiangsu Province, continues south through Suqian City, and connects to the reserved Yanghe North line station of the Xuzhou-Suqian-Huai'an-Yancheng Railway.

The newly built line length is 398.296 km, including 324.744 km in Shandong Province and 73.552 km in Jiangsu Province.

Simultaneously, connecting lines to the Jinan-Qingdao High-Speed Railway, Rizhao-Lankao High-Speed Railway, and Weifang-Laiyang High-Speed Railway will be built, totaling about 43.8 km. The Linyi North EMU Depot will be reconstructed, and conditions for the introduction of the Hefei-Xinyi Railway will be reserved in the Suqian area.  

The Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway has 11 stations: Weifang North (existing), Anqiu, Zhucheng West, Wulian North, Ju County North, Yinan (reconstructed), Linyi North (reconstructed), Lanling, Tancheng West, Xinyi East, and Suqian East.

2. Qingdao Connecting Line

This line is the connecting line between the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway auxiliary corridor and the coastal corridor of the "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail main corridors. It is a key section of the central Shandong corridor and an auxiliary corridor for passenger exchange between the Jiaodong Peninsula and the Yangtze River Delta and beyond.

The line starts from Yanghekou Station on the Qingdao-Yancheng Railway, extends south through the Qingdao West Coast New Area, and connects to Qingdao West Station. After leaving the station, it extends westward through Zhucheng City under Weifang City and Wulian County under Rizhao City, and connects to the planned Wulian North Station on the Weifang-Suqian High-Speed Railway. The newly built line length is 108.781 km.

It also includes related projects at the Qingdao hub and Wulian North Station. The Qingdao hub projects include the Hongdao Station 4-platform 8-line project, the new Hongdao passenger train technical servicing depot and passenger locomotive turnaround depot, and the Qingdao EMU Depot reconstruction project; the central Shandong left and right line projects will be implemented simultaneously at Wulian North Station.

The main line has 4 stations: Yanghekou (reconstructed), Qingdao West (reconstructed), Zhucheng South, and Wulian North.