CHINA: Services over the Hangzhou – Yiwu – Wenzhou high speed line began on September 6.
Construction of the direct 350 km/h route between two of Zhejiang’s largest cities started in 2017.
Previously, services south to Wenzhou or further down the coast had to run on longer and slower routes inland via Lishui and Jinhua, or via Taizhou and Shaoxing. Now up to 38 trains per day will cut travel times to as little as 87 min for the 276 km journey.
From Hanzghou West trains use part of the western end of the Shanghehang high-speed line as far as Tonglu East, opened in September 2022. From here they now continue south on a 59 km via Pujiang to Yiwu that features a 24 km tunnel under Longmen mountain. Yiwu station has been expanded to provide an interchange with the Shanghai–Kunming high-speed railway.
Beyond Yiwu the line cuts through the mountains west of Taizhou for 195 km with four intermediate stations before reaching Wenzhou North, formerly Yongjia, on the coastal Hangzhou – Shenzhen mixed-traffic line. This station had closed for rebuilding in 2021.
