The train G8388 enters Suzhou Railway Station in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 15, 2024. (Photo by Huang Yaobin/Xinhua)

SHANGHAI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Yangtze River Delta -- a major economic engine in the east of the country -- plans to open five new high-speed railway sections within the year. The move comes amid expectations that the region's 2026 rail investment will exceed 130 billion yuan (about 18.82 billion U.S. dollars).

According to China Railway Shanghai Group Co., this would mark the seventh consecutive year that the region's railway investment has exceeded 100 billion yuan.

Among the year's five rail projects, a section of the Jinhua-Jiande high-speed railway has already commenced operations, opening in February. The four other lines, including the Huaibei-Bengbu railway, are slated to open later this year.

By the end of 2025, the total length of operational railway tracks in the region exceeded 15,400 kilometers, with high-speed rail accounting for over 8,100 kilometers of that total.

The Yangtze River Delta, which covers the Shanghai Municipality and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, is one of China's most economically dynamic, open and innovative regions, playing a key role in national development and driving high demand for transport.