The Ningbo-Zhoushan railway line is expected to take up more than 66 hectares of sea area in East China's Zhejiang province.

The sea area will be composed of two parts: 10.6 hectares in Ningbo's Beilun district and 55.8 hectares in Zhoushan's Dinghai district.

The Ningbo-Zhoushan railway line starts at East Ningbo Station in Ningbo, passes by the city's Yinzhou district and Beilun district, Jintang Island, Cezi Island and Fuchi Island, and ends in Baiquan town in Zhoushan.

The railway line spans a distance of 76.4 kilometers, including 6.3 km of existing railway. It has seven stations, with trains operating at a maximum speed of 250 km/h.

The Jintang submarine tunnel and Xihoumen railroad bridge is part of the railway line, which begun construction in late December last year.

The 16.18-km Jintang submarine tunnel, 2.4 times longer than the tunnel along the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, will be the longest submarine high-speed railway tunnel in the world, while the 1,488-meter Xihoumen railroad bridge will be the longest globally.

The railway line's operation will reduce the travel time from Ningbo to Zhoushan from 1.5 hours to 26 minutes and cut the travel time from Zhoushan to Hangzhou from 3.5 hours to 77 minutes.

It also marks the opening of the first high-speed railway in Zhoushan, making all prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang  interconnected with each other by railway.

As the most convenient passenger channel to connect the island city of Zhoushan with the mainland, the railway will also facilitate the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region and bolster the Belt and Road Initiative.