On January 2, construction started on the Hefei–Wuhan section of the Shanghai–Chongqing–Chengdu High-Speed Railway along the Yangtze River (hereinafter referred to as the Hefei–Wuhan High-Speed Railway). Once completed, the project will further improve the Yangtze River corridor of China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network.

The Hefei–Wuhan High-Speed Railway is located in Anhui and Hubei provinces. The line starts at Hefei South Station of the Hefei railway hub, passes through Lu'an urban area and Jinzhai County in Anhui Province, and Macheng City and Hong'an County in Hubei Province, to the Wuhan railway hub, and connects via Wuhan Tianhe Station to the under-construction Wuhan–Yichang section of the Yangtze River High-Speed Railway.

The line is about 360 kilometers long (including 163.35 kilometers in Hubei), with a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour, a total of 8 stations, and a construction period of 4.5 years.

4 of the 7 major projects of the Yangtze River High-Speed Railway have started construction

It is understood that the Yangtze River High-Speed Railway (the newly built Shanghai–Chongqing–Chengdu High-Speed Railway) runs from Shanghai in the east to Chengdu in the west, with a total length of 2,100 kilometers and a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

It consists of 7 projects: the Shanghai–Nanjing–Hefei High-Speed Railway, the Hefei–Wuhan High-Speed Railway, the Wuhan hub through line, the Wuhan–Yichang High-Speed Railway, the Yichang–Fuling High-Speed Railway, the Fuling–Chongqing High-Speed Railway, and the Chengdu–Chongqing Middle Line High-Speed Railway. It is the main backbone of the comprehensive three-dimensional transportation system in the Yangtze River Basin and the east-west main artery of the national "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network.

Three projects—the Wuhan–Yichang High-Speed Railway, the Shanghai–Nanjing–Hefei High-Speed Railway, and the Chengdu–Chongqing Middle Line High-Speed Railway—have successively started construction, with cumulative output value of about 60 billion yuan, giving full play to the effective driving role of railway investment in investment across society.

Since construction started in September 2021, for the first-started section of the Yangtze River High-Speed Railway—the Wuhan–Yichang High-Speed Railway—more than 90 percent of the subgrade and continuous beam works have been completed, and more than 80 percent of tunnel breakthroughs and box girder erection have been completed.

Major breakthroughs have been made in the controlling works of the Shanghai–Nanjing–Hefei High-Speed Railway. The 4.09-kilometer Chongqi Highway-Railway Yangtze River Bridge, which crosses the north branch channel of the Yangtze River estuary, has entered the construction stage of the main pier cap, and the main structure of the shield launching shaft of the Chongtai Yangtze River Tunnel has been successfully completed.

Construction of the Chengdu–Chongqing Middle Line is being advanced in an overlapping manner. More than half of the 176 work sites in the Chongqing section have started construction, all 9 pre-station bid sections in the Sichuan section have fully entered the site, and construction of key projects such as the Shu'an Tunnel and the Xuantian Lake Bridge is proceeding in an orderly manner.

Tianhe Airport will have a 350 km/h high-speed rail station

After the Hefei–Wuhan High-Speed Railway opens, Wuhan Tianhe International Airport will have a high-speed rail station with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, opening a "new channel" for air-rail intermodal transport.

Zheng Xiaoqiang, overall design director of the project at the Fourth Survey and Design Institute of China Railway, introduced that Wuhan Tianhe Station is located between the southeast side of the airport and the Outer Ring Expressway, about 1.8 kilometers from Terminal 3. After it is put into use, the high-speed rail station and the airport will be able to achieve "one-stop" check-in for air-rail intermodal transport. Passengers can check in at the waiting hall and transfer quickly via the APM system.

Wuhan Tianhe Station is the first air-rail hub in Wuhan and even in Central China, and also a new fourth-generation station-city integrated railway comprehensive transportation hub in Wuhan. The completion of Wuhan Tianhe Station will greatly promote the efficient flow of factors and resources in the Wuhan Airport Economic Demonstration Zone and enhance Hubei's status as a modern comprehensive transportation hub.

Wuhan–Hefei travel time to be cut to within 1.5 hours, forming dual channels between Hefei and Wuhan

According to reports, the Hefei–Wuhan High-Speed Railway will become the main passenger transport corridor from the Wuhan metropolitan area to the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. Travel time from Wuhan to Hefei will be cut to within 1.5 hours, and to Shanghai to only 3 hours.

At present, there is already a Hefei–Wuhan Railway between Wuhan and Hefei. It opened to passenger trains on April 1, 2009, and began operating EMUs, with a design speed of 250 kilometers per hour. The soon-to-be-built Hefei–Wuhan High-Speed Railway will complement the Hefei–Wuhan Railway.

A relevant person in charge of the Line and Station Institute of the Fourth Survey and Design Institute of China Railway said that the existing Hefei–Wuhan Railway was approved by the state as a Class I railway for mixed passenger and freight operation. It currently operates EMUs at 250 kilometers per hour, passenger service quality is not high, and freight within the corridor needs to detour via other lines.

"The Hefei–Wuhan High-Speed Railway adopts the 350 km/h standard. Wuhan Tianhe Station will mainly handle through passenger trains, being efficient and fast while also accommodating air-rail intermodal functions; Hankou Station will mainly handle originating and terminating passenger trains, making travel convenient for residents. Passenger trains on the existing lower-speed Hefei–Wuhan line will mainly be handled at Hankou Station, offering good economy and convenience and better serving short- and medium-distance intercity passenger flows along the line."

Industry insiders said that after the completion of the higher-design-speed Hefei–Wuhan High-Speed Railway, Hefei and Wuhan will form a pattern in which two high-standard railways coexist, systematically optimizing the transport division of labor between the two lines and playing an important guiding role in maximizing the comprehensive benefits of the corridor.