Located on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert, the second-largest area of shifting sand dunes in the world, this typical desert railway crosses the windy and sandy areas for 534 kilometers, accounting for 65% of its total length. Since the construction began in December 2018, CR has organized the construction contractors to take powerful and effective measures to tackle challenges and overcome difficulties according to the geological characteristics of the desert, in all-around efforts to ensure the project completion as scheduled. Targeting the serious water shortage in the construction along the line, particularly concrete curing, they prefabricated the pier bodies for 434 bridges in the workshop and then transported them to the site for assembly, which effectively overcame the impact of water shortage on construction progress. In view of the fact that the track is under the threat of burying due to heavy sandstorms and moving sand dunes in some sections, five bridges with a total length of 49.7 kilometers have been built instead of subgrade, to allow sand and wind to pass beneath them, thus greatly reducing the threat of sand invasion to the track. According to the construction concept of “Sand control comes before railway building in the desert”, the railway builders endeavored to build the sandstorm protection facilities along with railway construction. A total of 50 million square meters of straw grids were created, and 13 million shrubs and trees were planted, such as saxaul, Chinese tamarisk and sea buckthorn, erecting green barriers for sand protection.
Before opening to traffic, CR has strictly followed various regulations and standards, meticulously organized inspection, acceptance and safety assessment of the track facilities of Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway, and carried out comprehensive optimization and adjustment of track status, train control, signaling & communication systems and so on. This railway is now fully up to the requirements for safe and stable operation of passenger and freight trains and ready for the upcoming operation.
Two passenger trains are scheduled each day for Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway, transporting passengers from Hotan to Ruoqiang, Korla, Urumqi and other places directly, with the shortest travel duration of 11:26, 17:50, and 24:23 respectively.
Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway will also serve as a convenient logistics corridor with 8 freight trains scheduled per day, to transport cotton, walnuts, dates, minerals and other commodities to the interior of China.
Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway is connected with the Ruoqiang-Korla Section of Golmud-Korla Railway, the Korla-Kashgar Section and the Kashgar-Hotan Section of Southern Xinjiang Railway, forming into a 2,712-km-long railway loop circling the Taklimakan Desert, which is the first of its kind in the world. The loop line passes through five prefectures of Xinjiang, namely Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Akesu Prefecture, Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture, Kashgar Prefecture and Hotan Prefecture, benefiting millions of people of all ethnic groups in southern Xinjiang. The completion and opening of this railway put an end to the history of no railway access in Lop, Qira, Keriya, Minfeng and other counties in Hotan Prefecture as well as Qiemo county in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, and will further improve the railway network structure in Xinjiang, accelerate the construction of the railway network in the western border area, greatly facilitate the travel of people of all ethnic groups and the flow of goods along the line. Furthermore, the line will stimulate the exploitation of local resources, which is of great significance for safeguarding national unity, consolidating national defense in border areas and boosting rural revitalization.
Train tickets for the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway are already on sale since 12:00 on June 15. For detailed information on train numbers, timetables, etc., please follow the updates on the official WeChat account of CHINA RAILWAY and 12306 website, application and official WeChat account.
附件：
