On Track for the Future: High-speed railway for 2022 Winter Olympic Games

World
Europe

03:15

China's new high-speed railway for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games is at a critical stage of construction. CGTN reporter Ning Hong visited the construction sites to see how far the project has come.

Travel time between Beijing and the Winter Olympics Village will be just 50 minutes with the new Jing-Zhang high-speed railway.

When completed, the line will be 174 kilometers long, connecting Beijing and the city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province. Two other lines part of the system will connect the resorts where ski competitions will take place -- Yanqing and Chongli -- with the Olympic Village.

Because of how big the undertaking is, the project presents many obstacles. For examples, engineers tackle how to build the railway passed a reservoir without polluting the water.

TAO ZHENGGUO, HEAD OF ENGINEERING DEPT. CHINA RAILWAY MAJOR BRIDGE ENGINEERING GROUP "To minimize the damage to the environment, the bridge was assembled on land and then was moved into place."

A temporary bridge was built to assist the construction. Mud and waste were all collected and moved away. This 110-meter long bridge is ready for action.

The High-speed railway is being built along a historic railway built by Chinese pioneer engineer Zhan Tianyou back in 1909. It was the first one designed and built by a Chinese engineer.

NING HONG HUAI LAI COUNTY, HEBEI PROVINCE "Now China has the most advanced high-speed railway system in the world. And one could say that the best way to honor the country's innovative engineers, is to build this high-speed railway track along these previous tracks.

In Ba Daling, a mountainous area to the north west of Beijing, under the station of the old railway, Chinese engineers are making a daring attempt to build a high-speed railway station under the great wall.

By going through the mountains, travel time will be cut dramatically.

NING HONG HUAI LAI COUNTY, HEBEI PROVINCE "We are about 90 meters below the famous Ba Daling Great wall, and once complete, it will be the largest underground high-speed railway station in the world."

It is a three-layer complex. The departure section covers an area of six football fields with a maximum depth of more than 100 meters.

DAI LONGZHEN, DEPUTY MANAGER OF 3RD SECTION JING ZHANG HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY "The concrete we use could last for at least 300 years. And the tunnel will only lower the surface of the ground above it by 14 millimeters."

It also makes the famous tourism Ba Daling section of the Great Wall accessible to attendees of the Winter Olympics.

The Jing Zhang high-speed railway will be operational by 2020. Not only will it support the influx of travelers to the Winter Olympics, but it will also speed up the integration of transportation and further boost the economic development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. Ning Hong, CGTN, Beijing.