On the morning of March 29, the Xi'an to Shiyan high-speed railway in China officially commenced full-line integrated testing and commissioning as a specialized inspection train, numbered 55002, departed slowly from Xi'an East Station. The new main line spans approximately 256 kilometers and is designed for a speed of 350 kilometers per hour. This railway is a crucial component of the national "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network and represents a significant segment of Shaanxi Province's "meter-shaped" high-speed rail grid. Traversing the cities of Xi'an, Shangluo, and Shiyan, the line will connect to the already operational Wuhan-Shiyan high-speed railway.
According to Deng Jun, Deputy Director of the Science, Technology, and Informatization Department at the China Railway Xi'an Group, the Xi'an-Shiyan line began static acceptance testing in January of this year. Preparatory work, including track fine-tuning and the completion of the overhead contact line system, has been finished, formally meeting the conditions for integrated testing. The team will coordinate expertise across various specialties to conduct meticulous testing and precise adjustments, ensuring the line commences operations in an optimal state. Once operational, travel time between Xi'an and Shiyan will be reduced to approximately one hour, and the journey from Xi'an to Wuhan will take about three hours. This development will further enhance the national high-speed rail network and shorten the travel time between Shaanxi Province and regions like the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.
The Pinglu Canal, a backbone project of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, achieved full water flow in its Nanning section on March 27. Overall project progress has now exceeded 90%, with full navigation expected by September this year. Stretching 134.2 kilometers from Nanning, Guangxi, through Qinzhou to the Beibu Gulf, the Pinglu Canal is a major initiative for river-sea intermodal transport and regional coordination. During a month-long period of waterless debugging, over 200 construction personnel conducted multiple rounds of testing on systems such as hydraulics and electromechanics at the Qingnian Hub ship lock. Further north along the canal, the Madao Hub, a critical control point for the entire project, is under construction. Upon completion, the canal will accommodate 5,000-ton-class cargo vessels, necessitating the straightening, deepening, and widening of existing waterways like the Qin River. In the Luwu river section, over 200 pieces of equipment and four dredgers are currently operational. Approximately 70 kilometers away, the Shajing Qin River Bridge, near the estuary, is nearing its opening to traffic. Of the 27 bridges spanning the canal, 25 have already been completed.
In Foshan City, Guangdong Province, the country's first humanoid robot production line with an annual capacity of ten thousand units was officially activated on March 29. This marks a significant breakthrough in achieving large-scale production capabilities for humanoid robots. The production line boasts an annual capacity exceeding 10,000 units, enabling a robot to roll off the line every 30 minutes, efficiently meeting demands for large-scale market delivery. All 24 precision assembly stations on the line utilize digital guidance, increasing efficiency by over 50% compared to traditional methods. A comprehensive set of 77 testing procedures rigorously inspects the safety performance of both components and finished products, ensuring stable and reliable quality. Furthermore, the production line features high flexibility, allowing for adjustments in workstations and line length to support mixed-line production of multiple models and products, which will strongly propel the scaled development of the humanoid robot industry.
In Anhui Province, the Fengshan Tunnel on the Anhui section of the new Shanghai-Nanjing-Hefei high-speed railway was successfully holed through on March 29. This milestone marks the complete penetration of both tunnels on the Anhui section, laying the groundwork for subsequent construction phases, including ballastless track laying, rail installation, and signaling and electrification works. The Anhui section features two tunnels: the Fengshan Tunnel and the Erlang Tunnel. The Fengshan Tunnel, the project's controlling structure and the longest tunnel in the section at approximately 5.49 kilometers, is located in Quanjiao County, Chuzhou City. Its construction was particularly challenging as it passed through a karst geological area, involving four fault fracture zones and water-rich regions, which posed significant difficulties for drainage and maintaining surrounding rock stability.
The Anhui section of the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hefei high-speed railway is scheduled to open in October 2027. As a key east-west segment of the national "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network's coastal corridor, the completed line will establish a new, rapid transit link connecting the Shanghai metropolitan area, the Nanjing metropolitan circle, and the Hefei metropolitan circle. This is of great significance for optimizing the railway network layout along the Yangtze River region, supporting the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and promoting high-quality integrated development within the Yangtze River Delta.
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