Determined, passionate railway workers tell their stories

By taking the D6268/5 or D6266/7 bullet trains which start from Nanchang, Jiangxi province, passengers go through 16 cities and counties including Jiujiang, Poyang, Jingdezhen, Wuyuan, Shangrao — all the way back to Nanchang, people can enjoy the beautiful scenery along the Poyang Lake.

The Henggang link line, a railway hub in Nanchang which opened in July this year, forms a high-speed rail line around Poyang Lake, together with the Beijing-Jiulong Railway, Nanchang-Jiujiang Intercity Railway, Jiujiang-Quzhou Express Railway, Hefei-Fuzhou High-speed Railway and Shanghai-Kunming High-speed Railway. As the high-speed railway line around Poyang Lake is one of the most beautiful lines in China, nearly a thousand people take the Nanchang to Nanchang bullet train around Poyang Lake for their travel. The railway rolling around Poyang Lake is not only a snapshot of the ever-improving railway network in Jiangxi province, but also an example of the reform and development of China's railway in the past 40 years, also inseparable from its persistent workers.

The guardians of high-speed rail

Testing equipment on bridges across the river, finding hidden dangers promptly and providing real, effective data for maintenance is daily work for Sun Fengsheng, a bridge worker on the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge in Jiangxi province.

Built in January 1993, the bridge is the eighth built on the Yangtze River. It is also a popular scenic spot. The Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge has been open 22 years, during which Sun has continued his daily work, never making a mistake. "I will work on the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge until I retire," he said gladly.

Tunnel one of the Jiujiang-Quzhou Express Railway is a direct route from Jiujiang to Wuyuan, topped by a mountain more than 130 meters high with tens of thousands of exposed stones on the surface. These large and small stones are carried by steel ropes, and from a distance the mountain seems to be held by a big net.

Every day Yan Guoping, foreman of the high speed railway maintenance workshop in the Yingtan industrial section of China Railway Nanchang Group Co.,Ltd, takes four workmates to Meishan for daily inspection to keep stones from failing. Whenever there is fog on top of the mountain, Yan and his colleagues look at the high-speed trains hurtling down the mountain, with the same feeling inside their hearts: "Though the passengers could not see us working on the mountain, their safe ride on the high-speed rails is the 'beauty' in our eyes," he said.

In the 40 years since reform and opening-up, China's railways have undergone tremendous changes, from steam locomotives to high-speed trains, which would not have been achieved without the efforts of all workers in the development of China's railways. "As the railways are growing fast, demands on drivers are also getting higher," said Yang Bin, a high-speed rail driver with 30 years of experience. "Only by continuous learning and improvement can we catch up with the development of our country’s railways."

Video/Edited by Sun Xiaoyu