On May 9, static acceptance inspection was fully launched on the entire Yichang-Xingshan high-speed railway line, marking the project’s transition into the completion and acceptance phase. The line is scheduled to be completed and put into operation within the year. Starting from Yichang East Railway Station and ending at Xingshan Station on the Zhengzhou-Chongqing high-speed railway, the Yichang-Xingshan HSR is a key component of China’s passenger transport corridor along the Yangtze River. It features 108.48 kilometers of newly built main line, designed for a speed of 350 kilometers per hour. Once completed and opened to traffic, the Zhengzhou-Chongqing HSR and the HSR along the Yangtze River will be linked in Yichang, framing a new east-west high-speed rail layout in Hubei Province. At that time, the travel time from Xingshan to Yichang will be reduced from the current two hours to around 20 minutes, and the high-speed rail journey from Yichang to Chongqing will be shortened from four hours to three hours. (Sanxia Daily)