A bullet train from Huzhou arrives at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in east China's Shanghai, Dec. 26, 2024. A newly constructed high-speed railway began operations on Thursday, enhancing the rail network connecting major cities in east China's Yangtze River Delta Region, a key economic powerhouse of the country.  (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

China State Railway Group Co (China Railway), the country's railway operator, introduced a new national rail timetable on Sunday to enhance the massive system's transportation capacity and efficiency.

China Railway plans to operate 13,028 scheduled passenger trains, an increase of 230 compared with the previous schedule. The number of freight trains will rise to 22,859, which is 91 more than the previous schedule. The adjustment aims to enhance the railway system's passenger and freight transport capacity, service quality and operational efficiency, according to a press release China Railway sent to the Global Times on Sunday.

Focused on serving national key strategies and balanced regional development, deepening the supply-side structural reform of the transport sector and actively adapting to market demand, the new diagram will enhance the overall efficiency of the railway network and further optimize the supply of passenger and freight transport products, the group said, noting that high-quality railway development will better serve sustained economic growth.

Leveraging the transportation capacity of new routes such as the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway and Hangzhou-Wenzhou high-speed railway, the adjustment will improve operations in Southeast China to support the integration of the Yangtze River Delta and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Among the adjustments, 38 new bullet trains will run from Shanghai to capital cities including Zhengzhou in Central China's Henan Province, Wuhan in Central China's Hubei Province and Fuzhou in East China's Fujian Province. Additionally, two bullet trains will operate at speeds of 350 kilometers per hour from the Beijing South Railway Station to the Nanjing South Railway Station on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway route.

In order to facilitate cross-boundary personnel exchanges, the number of bullet trains across Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong has increased to 242, while bullet trains running from Xi'an North Station in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Wuhan Railway Station and Jieyang Railway Station in South China's Guangdong Province to Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station have been launched.

With the addition of new lines such as the Jining-Datong-Yuanping high-speed railway and Jingmen-Jingzhou high-speed railway, the adjustment will support the rise of China's vast central and western regions.

Additionally, China Railway will ramp up its freight transport capacity, optimize the supply of express trains, and ensure the timely transportation of goods essential for the national economy and people's livelihoods. Efforts will also be made to strengthen the organization of China-Europe freight trains, ensure the stable operation of China-Central Asia freight trains, and the smooth and stable functioning of international industry and supply chains.

"The adjustment of the diagram reflects the stable development trend of the country's railway sector and will better adapt to the country's economic development," Sun Zhang, a railway expert at Shanghai Tongji University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

More passenger trains are being added, many of which are tourism routes - for example, the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway - which will meet a surge in the Spring Festival travel rush and growing inbound tourism thanks to the visa-free policy extension for short-term visits to China, Sun said.

The Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun, is set to break records this year, with an estimated 9 billion trips to be made across the country during the 40-day period from January 14 to February 22, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. The number of passenger trips by rail is expected to surpass 510 million, reflecting an increase over 2024 levels.

The annual Central Economic Work Conference held in Beijing in early December pointed out that the forging of a unified national market shall be accelerated, and efforts will be made to break down local protectionism and market segmentation, while logistics costs should be effectively lowered, it said.

"The optimization of freight trains is also in line with the spirit of the tone-setting meeting to reduce the country's logistics costs and better support economic development," Sun said.

The total operating length of China's railway network amounted to 162,000 kilometers as of the end of 2024, with the length of operating high-speed rail tracks reaching 48,000 kilometers, according to China Railway.