First tracks laid for China's northernmost high-speed rail

According to information from China Railway Harbin Group Co, China's northernmost high-speed rail, the Harbin-Yichun High-Speed Railway, officially entered the track laying phase on May 28, paving the way to the line's eventual connection.

The Harbin-Yichun HSR is an extension of the Beijing-Harbin and Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao corridors, and is located in China's northernmost Heilongjiang province.

It is China's highest-latitude high-speed railway currently under construction, traversing regions with the greatest annual temperature differences. It is also the first high-speed rail line to pass through perennially frozen terrain.

The line stretches from Harbin to Yichun, passing through Suihua on its way.

The main line spans 318 kilometers with a designed speed of 250 kilometers per hour. It includes nine stations along its route: Harbin, Harbin North, Hulan North, Xinglongzhen West, Suihua South, Qing'an South, Tieli, Riyuexia, and Yichun West.

The Harbin-Yichun HSR will significantly reduce the spatial and temporal distances between major urban clusters along the line. Travel time for passenger trains from Harbin to Yichun will be shortened from approximately 7 hours to around 2 hours.