China Opens Four High-Speed Rail Lines as “Eight Vertical, Eight Horizontal” Grid Hits 86 Percent

China put four new high-speed rail (HSR) lines into operation on September 28, spanning the country’s north, northwest, central and northeast regions and bringing the main corridors of its national “Eight Vertical, Eight Horizontal” (八纵八横) HSR network to 86 percent complete, according to Xinhua News.

The simultaneous opening of the Jinggang HSR Xiong’an–Shangqiu section, the Xiyu HSR Xi’an–Ankang section, the Yichang–Xingshan HSR, and the Harbin–Yichun HSR marks one of the year’s most significant expansions of China’s rail grid — a centerpiece of the country’s large-scale infrastructure investment aimed at connecting major regions and injecting momentum into regional economies.

Four Lines, Four Regions

Each line fills a distinct gap in the network. The first to open was the Jinggang HSR Xiong’an–Shangqiu section (also known as the Xiongshang HSR), whose inaugural train G7820 departed Hengshui South at 06:12. Running 552 kilometers at a design speed of 350 km/h across 16 stations, it links the Xiong’an New Area, central-southern Hebei, southwestern Shandong and eastern Henan. Xiong’an to Shangqiu is now reachable in as little as 2 hours 27 minutes.

“The line connects the Xiong’an New Area, central-southern Hebei, southwestern Shandong, and eastern Henan… Counties and cities including Renqiu, Suning, Hejian, and Shenzhou thereby enter the high-speed rail era,” said Li Yongqing, chief engineer of the Xiongshang section at China Railway Design Corporation.

The second line, the Xiyu HSR Xi’an–Ankang section, opened at 09:16 when train G9997 left Xi’an East and arrived at Ankang West 45 minutes later. The 171-kilometer, 350 km/h line completes the basic formation of Shaanxi’s “rice-shaped” (米) HSR network, with the 94.6 percent bridge-tunnel ratio making it the most tunnel-heavy HSR project to cross the Qinling Mountains.

At 09:58, the Yichang–Xingshan HSR opened, cutting Wuhan–Chongqing travel time from 4 hours 56 minutes to 3 hours 54 minutes — a saving of 1 hour 2 minutes. Its 101-kilometer route, also designed for 350 km/h, links the Shanghai–Chongqing–Chengdu (Huyurong) line with the Zhengzhou–Chongqing (Zhengyu) line, forming what planners call a Western Hubei HSR loop.

“After the Yixing HSR opens, it links with the Yichang–Jingmen, Jingmen–Xiangyang, and Xiangyang–Xingshan lines, forming a Western Hubei HSR loop,” said Ma Botao, director of the Planning Research Institute at the China Railway Economic and Planning Research Institute.

Rounding out the day, the Harbin–Yichun HSR opened at 10:26 when train D7288 departed Yichun West. At 318 kilometers and a design speed of 250 km/h, it is China’s northernmost high-speed railway. Yichun West station, at latitude 47°43’ N, is the country’s highest-latitude HSR station and its first built on permafrost in a high-cold region.

“This is the largest newly built station building on the entire line, and also China’s first HSR station building constructed on permafrost in a high-cold region,” said Shi Qinwei, project manager for Yichun West Station at China Railway Construction.

Engineering Through Difficult Terrain

Building the new sections required overcoming significant geological challenges. On the Xiongshang line, the Renqiu Grand Bridge crossing the busy Beijing–Kowloon railway used a “build-first-then-rotate” method, swiveling a 10,100-ton, 126-meter single-side span into place — the largest such swivel bridge on the line.

In the Qinling Mountains, the Xikang HSR faced rockbursts, high-pressure water inrush and soft-rock deformation. The 13,153-meter Huajiashan Tunnel has more than 70 percent Grade IV/V surrounding rock. At the Yanzipo Tunnel, maximum daily water inflow reached 23,000 cubic meters — roughly the volume of 10 standard swimming pools — managed through curtain grouting and pipe-roof support.

“Over five years, we insisted on construction, treatment, and revegetation simultaneously… achieving 100% resource utilization of tunnel spoil and minimizing disturbance to mountain forests,” said Qiu Defeng, head of Work Area 1, Bid Section 5, at China Railway Guangzhou Bureau, in a reporter’s notebook documenting the five-year Xi’an–Ankang build.

From Speed to Economic Reach

The openings are already reshaping local economies. In Xingshan County, Hubei, Gaolan Village Party Secretary Li Ming said the 2022 opening of the Zhengyu HSR sparked a tourism boom: the village now has 68 farmhouse restaurants and homestays, and residents are counting on the Yixing HSR for a fresh wave of development.

Sun Haojin, director of the Economic Research Institute at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said the Harbin–Yichun line would accelerate the flow of talent, technology and capital to northern counties and forest areas. The line will also implement market-based ticket pricing, a departure from standard flat fares.

Context: A Network Decades in the Making

The “Eight Vertical, Eight Horizontal” plan succeeded China’s earlier “Four Vertical, Four Horizontal” network as the centerpiece of its medium- and long-term HSR strategy. As of August 2023, the main corridors had 35,300 kilometers in operation — about 77.83 percent — with a further 7,025 kilometers under construction, according to CCTV News. The newly reported 86 percent reflects continued progress through 2026.

Investment momentum remains strong. In the first half of 2026, national railway fixed-asset investment reached 363.2 billion yuan, up 2.1 percent year-on-year, with 355.2 kilometers of new lines commissioned. China Railway Group has set a target of putting more than 2,000 kilometers of new lines into operation during the year.

“Since the start of this year, China Railway Group has focused on serving major national strategies and regional economic and social development… continuously improved the scale and quality of the rail network,” a Construction Department official said.

What’s Next

With the main corridors at 86 percent, attention turns to the remaining gaps — including the Ankang–Chongqing section of the Xiyu HSR and the Nanchang–Jiujiang segment of the Jinggang HSR, both still under construction. Each new opening narrows the distance between completion and the network’s promise: a web of lines intended to tie together the country’s major regions, accelerate the flow of people and goods, and spread the gains of high-speed connectivity beyond the coastal metropolises that first benefited from it.

For now, the four lines that began carrying passengers on September 28 stand as the latest demonstration of the country’s sustained commitment — and the sheer engineering reach — behind that ambition.