After three years of construction, the largest railway station in western China was officially put into service and received its first passengers on Thursday. /Chinanews Photo

Chongqing West Railway Station, located in Shapingba District in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, will function as a train station, a bus terminal and a public transit center. /Chinanews Photo

Covering a total area of 120,000 square meters, the railway station has 16 platforms, 37 departure and arrival lines and the capacity to host 15,000 travelers inside the terminal building. /Chinanews Photo

On the same day, a railway connecting Chongqing and Guiyang, two major cities in southwest China, also started operation. Designed for trains running at a speed of 200 kph, the 347-kilometer-long rail will cut travel time between the cities from the current 10 hours to two. /Xinhua Photo