The railway connecting Hangzhou with Huzhou's Deqing county breaks ground on Jan 5. [Photo/hz66.com]

A railway connecting Hangzhou with Huzhou's Deqing county broke ground on Jan 5, according to local media reports.

With an investment of around 14.061 billion yuan ($2.16 billion), the railway will be the first municipal railway line independently built and operated by Huzhou.

The 25.6-km line, which will consist of eight stops, starts from Hangzhou's Yuhang Renhe North Station and ends at Deqing Railway Station.

In addition, the railway will be connected to the subway line 10 in Hangzhou, cutting the travel time from Deqing to the central urban area of Hangzhou to less than an hour.

Scheduled to open to traffic in 2026, the line will also shorten the travel time from Deqing's central urban area to Deqing Railway Station to 10 minutes.

Deqing had invested 24.85 billion yuan in transportation infrastructure during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period.

Due to its improved transportation connectivity with Hangzhou, Deiqing has emerged as a magnet for investment from the provincial capital. Official statistics show that more than 680 Hangzhou enterprises have made investments in Deqing to date.

Deqing now looks to facilitate its integration with Hangzhou in terms of education, technology, talent and medical care in the future, said an official from the Deqing government.