Hangzhou-Huangshan high-speed railway line benefits Tonglu county

Tonglu High-speed Railway Station. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Transiting through Tonglu county, a high-speed railway line linking Hangzhou, Zhejiang province and Huangshan, Anhui province started operation on Dec 25, 2018.

The Hangzhou-Huangshan line contributed to the county's tourism boom in 2019, said Fang Yi, head of Tonglu county. People's way of travel, as well as their concept of life and their happiness index, have changed.

The line will also accelerate rapid transportation development in western Hangzhou, and develop a new pattern of opening-up for western Zhejiang.

This passenger-friendly line threads through a number of famous tourist attractions, such as the city of Hangzhou, with the West Lake, Fuchun River and Xin'an River, Thousand-island (Qiandao) Lake, and Huangshan Mountain, forming a world-class tourist passageway. It cuts the travel time by train from Hangzhou to Tonglu to 38 minutes, from Hangzhou to Qiandao Lake to 27 minutes, and from Hangzhou to Shanghai to 1.5 hours, making it a more efficient choice for locals and tourists.

Taking advantage of Hangzhou's City Brian, an intelligent urban big data platform, Tonglu launched a new travel product to provide tourists with optimized traveling experience and personalized services through data-based passenger flow guidance in 2019.

Moreover, the county also launched several promotion events of free home inn accommodation, free tours around 28 scenic areas or villages and free shuttle buses to widen its popularity and appeal to tourists.

The launch of the high-speed line not only changes the way of travel, it has a profound effect on Tonglu's economic development.

A variety of industries including but not limited to agricultural products, new energy and logistics in the county show vigorous development trends.

The Tonglu railway station is the only one of the four stops in Hangzhou of the Hangzhou-Huangshan line located in an urban area, and consequentially brings development opportunities for industrial development, regional tourism, and rural revitalization.

Fang Yi also said that plans are to develop the Tonglu railway station into the most functional reception hall in the county, integrating the five centers of transportation hub, tourism service center, business center, cultural exhibition center, and civic center.

In the future, Tonglu will focus on strengthening ties with the three metropolitan areas of Hangzhou, Wenzhou-Taizhou, Yiwu-Jinhua and their surroundings to enhance its international image and comprehensive competitiveness in all aspects.

The nine stations along the 265-kilometer Hangzhou-Huangshan high-speed line are Hangzhou, Fuyang, Tonglu, Jiande, and Chun'an in the western part of Zhejiang, and Sanyang, Jixi and Shexian to the northwest, as well as the city of Huangshan in Anhui province.

And more railway lines will be launched to closely connect Tonglu with other cities across the country.