China's first cross-sea high-speed railway, the Fuzhou-Xiamen-Zhangzhou High-speed Railway which connects Fuzhou and Zhangzhou in East China's Fujian Province, passed static acceptance testing on Friday, creating conditions for the opening of the line within the year.
The railway is a major high-speed project in the southeast coastal area and part of China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed railway network announced in 2016.
Construction of the 277-kilometer-long railway started in September 2017 with its designed highest operating speed of 350 kilometers per hour. A total of eight stations will be set up along the railway line, which are Fuzhou South, Fuqing West, Putian, Quangang, Quanzhou East, Quanzhou South, Xiamen North and Zhangzhou.
The north end of the railway connects the planned Wenzhou-Fuzhou High-speed Railway, and its south end connects the planned Zhangzhou-Shanwei High-speed Railway.
After the static acceptance testing is completed, the Fuzhou-Xiamen-Zhangzhou High-speed Railway is expected to enter the joint debugging and joint test stage in April and will be ready for operation within this year.
After the opening of the high-speed railway, the travel time from Fuzhou to Xiamen will be shortened to less than one hour, forming a "one-hour transportation circle." The cities of Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou will form a "half-hour transportation circle" and the southeast coastal cities will be connected to form a "golden tourism belt." Besides, the fastest travel by rail between Xiamen and Beijing will be shortened to nine hours from more than 11 hours.