The Xi'an-Shiyan High-Speed Railway has completed its full track-laying, marking a major step toward opening the line as planned. The project, surveyed and designed by CRCC, now enters its final stage of construction.
As a key component of Shaanxi's expanding high-speed rail network, the line starts in Xi'an, cuts southeast through the Qinling Mountains, and reaches Shiyan in Hubei Province, where it links with the operational Wuhan-Shiyan High-Speed Railway. Stretching 255.7 kilometers and designed for speeds of up to 350 km/h, the route features an extremely demanding engineering profile, with bridges and tunnels making up 94.6 percent of its length. In total, crews laid 512 kilometers of track, including 14 sections of long, steep gradients that posed exceptional construction challenges.
To ensure precise alignment on a route dominated by high piers and large-span bridges, the CRCC team developed a curvature-radius-based evaluation system and integrated multiple measurement and analysis techniques. These efforts allowed engineers to refine the bridge-deck alignment and achieve the high level of track smoothness required for high-speed operations.
Construction teams also overcame numerous difficulties in steep-gradient zones and long tunnels, where limited traction, transport risks, and harmful gases made operations particularly complex. By deploying high-power crawler tractors together with heavy-duty track-laying machinery-and by installing continuous ventilation and smoke-extraction systems-the project significantly enhanced both safety and efficiency. Track-laying reached a peak of 18 kilometers in a single day, with an average progress of 8 kilometers, setting new benchmarks for efficiency.
Once operational, the line will cut travel time between Xi'an and Shiyan to under one hour, while reducing the Xi'an-Wuhan journey from five hours to roughly 2.5 hours. The railway is expected to strengthen regional connectivity and support major national strategies, including the Belt and Road Initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Western Development, and the Rise of Central China, giving strong momentum to economic and social development along its corridor.