Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou railway

Entrance to Xiaoxingzhai Tunnel, between Yuxi and Tonghai
An elevated section between two tunnel sections, between Tonghai and Jianshui

The Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou railway is a standard-gauge railway in Yunnan Province of China, linking the provincial capital Kunming with the town of Hekou on the Vietnamese border. It consists of three components, the Kunming–Yuxi railway, the Yuxi–Mengzi railway, and the Mengzi–Hekou railway.

The Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou railway is electrified, but, over most of its length, single-tracked.

Constructed in several stages between 1989 and 2014, the Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou railway is the modern standard-gauge alternative to the early-20th century metre-gauge Kunming–Hekou railway (the Chinese section of the Kunming–Hai Phong railway), making the latter mostly obsolete as far as normal passenger and cargo transportation is concerned.

History

The first section of the Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou railway, a railway branch from Kunming to Yuxi, was opened in 1993.[1]

The Yuxi–Mengzi section opened for freight service in February 2013; in April 2013, passenger trains started running daily as far as Mengzi North, 258 km (160 mi) south of Kunming and approximately 150 km north of Hekou; the second daily train was added by July.[1]

Finally, the Mengzi–Hekou section was opened on December 1, 2014.[2] Regular passenger service started between Hekou North and Kunming, with some trains continuing to Dali.[3]

Route

Although the new Kunming–Yuxi–Mengzi–Hekou standard-gauge rail line roughly parallels the Kunming–Hekou section of the old narrow-gauge Kunming–Hai Phong railway, the two railway's routes are significantly different. The new rail line, passing through Tonghai and Jianshui, is about 30 km (19 mi) west of the old metre-gauge railway (which runs via Yiliang and Kaiyuan).[1]

Connections to the narrow-gauge network

A short metre-gauge connector line has been constructed between the Hekou North railway station (the southern terminal of the new standard-gauge line) and the old metre-gauge railway, thus allowing to bring cargo from Vietnam on metre-gauge railcar for reloading to standard-gauge rolling stock, and vice versa.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Matthew Hartzell, Yuxi-Mengzi: China's newest railway
  2. 1 2 Lu, Hua (陆华); Guo, Weina (郭薇娜) (2015-04-24), 昆明铁路局：国际铁路联运开启云南货运新篇章 (Kunming Railway Bureau: An international railway link opens a new chapter in Yunnan's freight transportation)
  3. ↑ Hekou North schedule (in Chinese)
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