A decade on, high-speed rail still delivering in western China

A bullet train passes fields of blossoming rapeseed flowers on the Lanzhou-Urumqi High-Speed Railway in Menyuan, Qinghai province, last month. [Photo provided to China Daily]

1,786-km Lanzhou-Urumqi line puts growth on faster track

Each morning, the low, repetitive hum of trains on track is enough to send 50-year-old rail maintenance worker Ma Wanli to sleep in his makeshift bed in his on-site office, safe in the knowledge that his previous five-hour shift has ensured everything is running smoothly.

Ma and his colleagues, of China Railway Qinghai-Xizang Group, are responsible for a section of the Lanzhou-Urumqi High-Speed Railway in Qinghai province, stretching 218 kilometers.

Over the past decade, Ma has witnessed the transformation of various local cities from relative obscurities to tourist destinations, and attributes this to the opening of the Lanzhou-Urumqi High-Speed Railway.

The high-speed railway starts in Lanzhou, Gansu province, passes through Xining in Qinghai, and terminates in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, spanning a total length of 1,786 km.

The railway began operation on Dec 26, 2014, strengthening connections between Northwest China and other parts of the country. In nearly 10 years, it has transported over 140 million passengers and driven the rapid economic development of cities along the route.