The Yichang-Xingshan High-speed Railway, also known as the Yichang connecting line of the Yangtze River High-speed Railway, is now in the phase of final acceptance inspection and is expected to be fully open to traffic within the year. As a key part of the national high-speed railway network’s Yangtze River corridor under the “Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal” layout, the line stretches 108.38 kilometers with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. Upon completion, it will link the Wuhan-Yichang section of the Yangtze River High-speed Railway and the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway. The travel time between Xingshan and Yichang will be cut from 2 hours by road to just 20 to 30 minutes by high-speed train. The railway will connect top cultural and tourist attractions in western Hubei including the Three Gorges Dam, the Hometown of Wang Zhaojun and Shennongjia, boost coordination between two major urban agglomerations of Yichang-Jingzhou-Jingmen-Enshi and Xiangyang-Shiyan-Suizhou-Shennongjia, and drive tourism and economic growth along the route. (Sanxia Daily: Reporter/Huang Xiang)