The Yangtze River Delta region is one of the regions with the most active economic development, the highest degree of openness and the strongest innovation ability in the mainland, and has become an important engine for the mainland's economic development after years of development. The Yangtze River Delta region is not only one of the most economically developed regions in the mainland, but its transportation is also accessible in all directions. Taking the railway network as an example, as of December 29, 2023, the operating mileage of the Yangtze River Delta railway exceeded 14,000 kilometers, of which the high-speed rail mileage exceeded 7,100 kilometers. In addition, the Yangtze River Delta Railway will send more than 800 million passengers in 2023.
At present, with the acceleration of the integration process of the Yangtze River Delta, exchanges such as the flow of people between cities are becoming more and more frequent, and the requirements for transportation infrastructure are also increasing. Therefore, in terms of the construction of the Yangtze River Delta railway, the mainland has put forward a new plan: by 2035, the Yangtze River Delta will be built on a high-quality modern track. That is to say, the three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta region need to work together to advance. Among them, the Yihu Railway is a railway jointly planned and constructed by Zhejiang and Jiangsu, aiming to strengthen the transportation links between Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and improve the coverage and transportation capacity of the regional transportation network. The Yihu Railway, the Yixing-Huzhou high-speed railway, is an important part of the railway construction in the Yangtze River Delta region.
Yixing is located at the southwest end of Jiangsu Province and the center of the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou Triangle, which is a regional central city at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, and the engine of the southern wing of Wuxi Taihu Bay Science and Technology Innovation Belt. At present, the railway lines in transit include the Nanjing-Hangzhou high-speed railway and the Xinchang railway. Huzhou, located in the northern part of Zhejiang Province and the intersection of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, is the central city of the Yangtze River Delta and a member city of the Hangzhou metropolitan area. At present, Huzhou has a number of railways such as Xuanzhou-Hangzhou Railway, Xinchang Railway, Nanjing-Hangzhou Passenger Dedicated Line, Shanghai-Suzhou-Lake Railway under construction, and Tongsuhu Intercity Railway, so it can be said that Huzhou is a railway hub in the north of Zhejiang Province. The train between Yixing and Huzhou can be directly reached by Xinchang Railway or Nanjing-Hangzhou High-speed Railway. So, will the rebuilding of the Yihu Railway be a duplicate construction or a waste of resources?
According to the preliminary plan, the Yihu Railway starts from Yixing Station, passes through Changxing, and ends at Huzhou Station, with a main line length of about 56 kilometers and a design speed target of 350 km/h. It is understood that the functional positioning of the Yihu Railway is: the double line of the Nanjing-Hangzhou high-speed railway, aiming to form a new high-speed railway channel between Yixing and Huzhou, which can connect the Shanghai-Suzhou-Lake Railway directly to Shanghai, and can connect to Hangzhou through the Huzhou-Hangzhou Railway to the south. At present, the passenger flow of the Nanjing-Hangzhou high-speed railway is close to saturation, and it is likely to continue to grow in the future.
Secondly, the construction of the Yihu Railway will further improve the north-south comprehensive transportation corridor between Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The north-south transportation corridor in the Yangtze River Delta region has always been one of the focuses of regional transportation construction. The construction of the Yihu Railway will strengthen the transportation links between Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, forming a rapid transportation channel running through the north and south of the Yangtze River Delta, which can enable the passenger transportation of the Yixing-Shanghai high-speed railway to realize the public transportation operation.
To sum up, although the Yihu Railway and the Nanjing-Hangzhou High-speed Railway overlap on some lines, considering their design speed, capacity improvement and regional development needs, it can be considered that the Yihu Railway is not a simple duplicate construction, but a strong supplement and improvement of the transportation network in the Yangtze River Delta region. So, what is the progress of the project so far? It is understood that in 2022, Jiangsu Province will start the pre-feasibility study and engineering feasibility study of the Yixing-Huzhou railway. In 2023, the project workers will be able to pass the review. At present, the preliminary work is being accelerated.