The Liaoning section of the Harbin-Dalian high-speed passenger railway project, the largest transportation infrastructure project in northeastern China, will first begin operation in 2011.

The construction of the highly-anticipated Beijing-Shenyang high-speed passenger railway line will start July 2010 at the earliest, said Cheng Zhenggao, governor of Liaoning province, March 17 at the stone-laying ceremony of the Shenyang-Dandong passenger railway line.

The construction of the Harbin-Dalian high-speed passenger railway project is advancing smoothly after it began August 2007. This year is a critical year for the comprehensive construction of the entire line, by the end of which, the major engineering work will likely be completed. After the Liaoning section of the Harbin-Dalian high-speed passenger railway line is put into operation, the almost 400-kilometer trip from Shenyang to Dalian will take only over one hour, while it currently takes three hours.

The Beijing-Shenyang high-speed railway is the second high-speed railway passage linking northeastern China with northern China. It has a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour. After it begins operation, it will shorten the trip from Beijing to Shenyang to two and half hours, shaving nearly one and half hours off the time it takes on the existing railway line, which includes the Qinhuangdao-Shenyang passenger line.

Source: People's Daily Online