China's first undersea high-speed rail tunnel will form a section of the high-speed rail link between Ningbo and Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang Province.

According to the local railway administration, an accreditation conference for the feasibility of the project has concluded in Beijing. The plans under discussion included blueprints for China's first undersea high-speed rail tunnel.

The 77-kilometer-long high-speed railway will be the first railway from Ningbo to Zhoushan, with a projected speed of 250 km/h, in which a 16-kilometer undersea tunnel will connect Beilun in Ningbo with Jintang in Zhoushan.

Zhoushan City is an archipelago at the southern mouth of Hangzhou Bay.

In the project, 71 kilometers of new railway line will be built. Seven stations are planned along the route, and four of them will be newly built. Three will be reconstructed.

The conference confirms facilitating tourism as the main function of the project, and intercity passenger transportation will be its secondary function. 

Medium- and long-distance bullet trains for intercity passenger transportation connecting Zhoushan, Ningbo and Hangzhou will be launched after the completion of the railway.

The high-speed link will shorten the transportation time between Ningbo and Zhoushan to 30 minutes, a decrease of 75 minutes.

The high-speed railway will integrate both highway and railway lines, which means an expressway from Ningbo to Zhoushan will be constructed in parallel with the high-speed railway, according to the transportation administration.

（Cover: Ctiy view of Ningbo. /VCG Photo)