Chongqing East railway station under the morning sun. (Photo/China Railway)
Chongqing - Chongqing recently marked a major milestone in both regional and national transport development with the official opening of Chongqing East Railway Station and the launch of the new Chongqing–Qianjiang section of the Chongqing–Xiamen High-Speed Railway.
This is the first 350 km/h high-speed rail line to extend deep into southeastern Chongqing, including ethnic minority areas. With the full Chongqing East–Changsha corridor now in operation, travel time between Chongqing’s city center and Qianjiang has been cut from three hours to just 66 minutes.
Chongqing's inland and mountainous terrain has long made transportation, especially rail infrastructure, a challenge. Until recently, nine of the city’s 29 outer districts and counties, including Youyang, Xiushan, and Qianjiang, were outside the two-hour rail reach from the city center, with limited high-speed connections to neighboring provinces.
In today's Chongqing, over 3100 kilometers of rail now link urban centers with remote towns in a logistical and economic network. Now, a new temporal map is forming: Chongqing to Zhangjiajie in two hours, Changsha in four, and Chengdu to Changsha in six.
National data shows that every 100 million yuan invested in rail construction yields over 260 million yuan in GDP and generates around 6000 jobs. For Chongqing, expanding rail capacity is key to deeper integration into national railway corridors, faster access to major economic zones, and a more resilient logistics network.
The effects are already visible. Since the launch of the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway in 2022, passenger flows have surged. On the Chongqing–Wushan segment alone, monthly ridership has climbed from 770,000 to over 1.07 million, with a cumulative total now exceeding 35 million.
Tourism income in Fengjie County rose nearly 20% last year. Local specialties like Fengjie navel oranges and Wushan crisp plums have become high-speed rail "souvenirs," and tourists increasingly take day trips to participate in seasonal harvests.
New investment has followed these passenger flows. In the Three Gorges Reservoir region, the number of inbound firms has nearly doubled, with new capital exceeding 10 billion yuan. Key sectors include smart manufacturing and green food processing—industries deliberately co-locating along rail routes.
The Chongqing municipal government first laid out its vision of becoming a "transport-strong city" in 2021, with the "2-Hour Chongqing" plan as a central component. In 2024, a five-year action plan was released, detailing the construction of new intercity travel and logistics systems. The goal is straightforward: enable passengers and freight to reach any of Chongqing's districts from the city center within two hours.
To realize this, the city has accelerated the construction of a star-shaped high-speed rail network and complementary logistics corridors. Flagship projects include the just-opened Chongqing–Qianjiang line and connections to Wanzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guiyang, and Jishou. These routes are part of a strategic effort to enhance both east–west and north–south flows, with total investment across related projects approaching 245 billion yuan.