On the morning of July 12, the right bore of Jinping Mountain Tunnel, part of the Yichang section of the Xiangyang-Yichang Expressway, was fully completed, marking the first single-bore tunnel breakthrough along the entire route.

　　Constructed by China Railway 18th Bureau Group, the 640-meter-long right bore was completed 22 days ahead of schedule. As a key project under Hubei Province’s 14th Five-Year Plan for comprehensive transportationefforts, the Yichang section spans approximately 87 kilometers, passing through counties and districts including Yuan’an, Dangyang and Yiling. It will serve as a critical transportation hub in the “Golden Triangle” of Wuhan, Xiangyang and Yichang. The Yichang section is set to open to traffic in 2027, cutting travel time between the two provincial sub-central cities of Xiangyang and Yichang by half, from three hours to just 1.5 hours.(Reporter/Zeng Xuebin, Correspondents/Cheng CaiqiandWu Jinsuo)