The track-laying of the Beijing-Xiongan intercity railway, a key project for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, was completed on Monday, marking an important step in the construction of the intercity railroad linking Xiongan New Area in neighboring Hebei Province and urban areas of the Chinese capital, including Beijing Daxing International Airport.

The section of the railway from the Liying railway station in the Daxing District to the Daxing airport was put into operation in September 2019, with a designed speed of 250 kilometers per hour. The trains run on the existing Beijing-Kowloon Railway between Beijing West Railway Station and Liying Station.

With a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the stretch from the Daxing airport to Xiongan is expected to open at the end of this year. Travel time from Beijing proper to Xiongan New Area will be cut to about an hour.

China announced plans to establish the Xiongan New Area on April 1, 2017, to relieve Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as China's capital.

(Cover image: Workers lay tracks at the construction site of Beijing-Xiongan intercity railway in Xiongan New Area, north China's Hebei Province, August 17, 2020. /CFP)