Harbin-Jiamusi line brings rail services to new areas

A train waits to depart on the new Harbin to Jiamusi line at Harbin Railway Station. [Photo/ce.cn]

A new railway line has dramatically improved passenger services between Harbin and Jiamusi, thanks to the careful design of the new express line running through Heilongjiang province.

Statistics from China Railway Harbin Bureau reveal that the Harbin-Jiamusi Express Railway handled 894 trains and transported 679,000 passengers over a one-month period starting on Sept 30. The average passenger flow reached 23,000 people per day.

The 340-kilometer-long railway links Harbin, the provincial capital, with Jiamusi.

The railway, which has 14 stations, starts in Harbin, passes through Binxi, Fangzheng, Demoli, and Yilan, before finally arriving in Jiamusi, the easternmost city of China.

Built in a region where the temperature can be as low as minus 40 Celsius in winter, it is designed to allow trains to run at 200 kilometers per hour, even in severe weather conditions such as heavy rain, wind, snow and fog, cutting travel times to 123 minutes from more than 5 hours previously.

Construction of the Harbin-Jiamusi Express Railway started in 2014 from both terminal stations. About 80 percent of the track was completed in isolated and remote areas of the province, posing unique construction challenges.

The new express line brings rail services to an area where 80 percent of the local population did not previously have access to rail transport.

The rail line will also be connected to the Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Rail Line, joining Heilongjiang province’s rail network and serving as a bridge between China and Russia, thereby boosting bilateral trade, and economic and cultural exchanges.