Construction of the Chengdu-Zigong high-speed railway, the first such project that can reach speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour in Southwest China's Sichuan province, started on March 27.

According to Sun Yun, chairman of Sichuan Railway Industry Investment Group Co Ltd, the project is an important part of the country's high-speed rail network consisting of eight main north-south lines and eight main east-west lines.

The new line starts from Chengdu East Railway Station in the north of the province and ends at Zigong East Railway Station in the south of the province.

The main line is almost 177 km long, and its construction entailed an estimated investment of 36 billion yuan ($5.35 billion) over four years.

The line will be linked to the Zigong-Yibin high-speed railway. The whole line from Chengdu via Zigong to Yibin will be completed and opened to traffic in 2023, forming a major high-speed rail corridor linking Southeast Asia to Sichuan.

Sun said the high-speed railway will not only promote the regional economic and social development of Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan and Guizhou, but also support Sichuan's integration into the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative-related projects and the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Xinhua