Speedy trains to link capital, Xiongan

Planners are seeking public opinions on an intercity railway linking Beijing and Xiongan New Area in neighboring Hebei province - revealing that a new high-speed rail line is being planned between the two cities.

China Railway Design Corp, a subsidiary of network operator China Railway Corp, announced last week it would collect public comments until Thursday about the Gu'an East Railway Station and Bazhou North Railway Station, which are in Langfang, Hebei, and along the new line, according to the Langfang government's website.

The announcement said the intercity line will start from Liying Railway Station in Beijing's Daxing district, pass through Beijing's new airport and Langfang, and terminate at Xiongan Railway Station in Xiongxian county.

The line would be put into use in 2019, which also is the anticipated opening time frame for the capital's new airport in Beijing's southern Daxing, according to Beijing News.

It also said a single trip from Beijing to Xiongan by the new line would be cut to about 30 minutes by then.

About a month ago, CRC invited domestic and foreign design enterprises to provide first-class architectural designs for the Xiongan Railway Station.

It said the station, covering about 100,000 square meters, will be a modern transportation hub to satisfy the people's needs and provide high-quality service.

In July, China Railway Design Corp released a notice to collect public comments on the environmental impact of the new line - the first public acknowledgment of the plans.

According to the notice, the line will be 100.3 kilometers long.

But back then, the line was called the new "Beijing-Xiongan railway" (rather than the current intercity railway) and its terminus was Xiongan East Railway Station (rather than the current Xiongan Railway Station).

Intercity railways are among the country's fastest lines, such as the 119-kilometer Beijing-Tianjin intercity rail, which takes just 30 minutes for a single trip.

A report by thepaper.cn said the line was a deviation from the Beijing-Xiongan railway's plan.

Except for the new line, there are existing railway connections between the two cities. Further, the Beijing-Jiulong high-speed railway, which is under construction, also links Beijing with Xiongan.

Direct high-speed train services linking the two cities began in July on existing lines and takes about 80 minutes.