The G8311-bullet train from Hefei in East China's Anhui Province arrived at Anqing Station at around 10 am on Tuesday, marking the start of the Hefei-Anqing high-speed railway's operation. Photo: VCG

When the Hefei-Anqing railway, a section of the Beijing-Hong Kong high-speed railway, was put into operation on Tuesday, it is believed to address inadequacies in the railway network in the Yangtze River Delta, and it will promote regional economic development, an expert noted. 

With trains running at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour on the railway linking the provincial capital Hefei and Anqing, with seven stations in between, the time needed to travel between Hefei and Anqing has now been shortened to one hour and 13 minutes, Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

The 176-kilometer Hefei-Anqing railway, lying in East China's Anhui Province, serves as an essential part of China's national medium- and long-term railway construction plan, also known as the "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed railway network. 

The northern end of the rail line in Hefei will connect with Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou railway, Hefei-Nanjing railway, Hefei-Fuzhou railway, Hefei-Bengbu railway and Hefei-Wuhan railway. The southern end in Anqing will connect with Nanjing-Anqing railway and Anqing-Jiujiang section of the Beijing-Hong Kong high-speed railway, The Paper reported. 

With the Yancheng-Nantong high-speed railway in East China's Jiangsu Province scheduled to be put into operation at the end of this year, as well as several other railways in the Yangtze River Delta being put into operation recently, the "blanks" in the region's railway network have been filled where there previously was no railway line. 

These new railways help meet the increasing demand for passenger transportation between cities within the Yangtze River Delta region, especially the major cities and provincial capital cities. They also serve the nationwide "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed railway network, making it easier for cities and major economic zones across the country to connect with each other, Xu Ruihua, professor with the College of Transportation Engineering of Tongji University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

With the new Hefei-Anqing and Yancheng-Nantong railways put into operation, the mileage of new railways put into operation in the Yangtze River Delta this year will exceed 1,180 kilometers, one-fourth of the total mileage of new railways scheduled to be put into operation across the country this year, the Shanghai Observer reported on Tuesday. 

Statistics show that investment in railway infrastructure construction in the Yangtze River Delta has been exceeding 80 billion yuan ($12.21 billion) every year during the past five years. The total investment this year has exceeded 90 billion yuan, Modern Express reported in June.