Workers are excavating a tunnel in Pingtan county in Fujian province in preparation for the Fuzhou-Pingtan Railway.

A worker drills into hard rock in a tunnel in preparation for the Fuzhou-Pingtan Railway, Dec 7. [Photo/pingtan.gov.cn]

As of Dec 7, they had dug through seven meters after a week’s efforts, Pingtan Times reported.

The construction team will bring in more large engineering facilities to tackle problems caused by complicated geographic conditions. They will endeavor to reach the 40-meter and 100-meter milestones by New Year’s Day and Spring Festival (Feb 19), respectively, according to a project supervisor.

Background: Fuzhou-Pingtan Railway

Construction of the Fuzhou-Pingtan Railway – which will link the capital city of Fuzhou and the island county of Pingtan in Fujian province – began on Oct 31, 2013.

The line stretches 88.4 kilometers, with a designed speed of 160 km per hour (Fuzhou-Fuzhou South) and 200 km per hour (Fuzhou South to Pingtan), a passenger capacity of 50 million per year and cargo capacity of 15 million tons.

The railway project – with a total investment of 26.8 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) – is expected to take over five years to complete.