Southern Xinjiang railway

Southern Xinjiang railway 南疆铁路
The Southern Xinjiang railway through the Tian Shan range in Hejing County
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	People's Republic of China Xinjiang
Termini	Turpan railway station Kashgar railway station
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	China Railway
Operator(s)	China Railway Ürümqi Group
History
Opened	1984 (Turpan–Korla) 1999 (Korla–Kashgar)
Technical
Line length	1,930 km (1,200 mi)
Number of tracks	2 (Turpan–Aksu; Double-track railway) 1 (Aksu–Kashgar; Single-track railway)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	800 m (2,625 ft)
Electrification	25 kV AC, 50 Hz (Turpan–Korla)
Operating speed	160km/h
Highest elevation	2.2%

The Southern Xinjiang railway or Nanjiang railway (simplified Chinese: 南疆铁路; traditional Chinese: 南疆鐵路; pinyin: Nánjiāng tiělù), is a railway between Turpan and Kashgar in Xinjiang, China. The railway is 1,446 km (899 mi) in length and runs along the southern slope of the Tian Shan mountain range, connecting all major cities and towns of the Northern Tarim Basin, including Turpan, Hejing, Yanqi, Korla, Luntai (Bügür), Kuqa, Toksu (Xinhe), Aksu, Maralbexi (Bachu), Artux, and Kashgar.^[1][2]

The line joins the Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway at Turpan (connecting to Ürümqi) and the Kashgar–Hotan railway in Kashgar. It also forms the Taklimakan Desert railway loop, together with sections of the Hotan–Ruoqiang railway, Kashgar–Hotan railway, and Golmud–Korla railway.^[3]

History

The Southern Xinjiang railway was built from east to west. The Turpan-Korla section in the east (457 km) was built from 1974 to 1984.^[2] The western section from Korla to Kashgar (988 km (614 mi)) was built from 1996 to 1999.^[2] From Yanqi to Kashgar, the line follows National Highway 314. The Kashgar–Hotan railway, originally referred to as Phase III of the Southern Xinjiang railway, opened in 2010. From 2008 to 2013, the Korla to Aksu section, 526.9 km (327 mi) in length, was double-tracked.^[4]

In December 2014, a second double-track electrified line between Turpan and Korla opened to commercial operation.^[5] This new line, called the second Turpan–Korla railway, is 334 km (208 mi) in length.^[5] The line makes use of extensive tunneling to shorten the distance between the two cities by 123 km (76 mi).^[5] The maximum elevation along route is lowered from 2,980 m (9,777 ft) to 1,490 m (4,888 ft), and the steepest incline is reduced from 22.7‰ to 13‰.^[5] The longest tunnel along route, the Middle Tianshan Tunnel, is 22.467 km (14.0 mi) in length and one of the longest railway tunnels in China.^[5]

On 1 January 2021, a branch from south of Kalpin to Tumxuk was opened to passenger service. It is 31 kilometres (19 mi) long and has a design speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph).^[6]

Station list

Rail connections

• Turpan: Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway
• Kashgar: Kashgar–Hotan railway

Gallery

• 
  Train No.K169 running on the railway
• 
  Through the Tian Shan in Hejing County
• 
  Train running between mountains in Toksun County, Turpan
• 
  Hejing County section in winter
• 
  Kashgar Station

See also

• List of railways in China

References