The Baotou-Huinong section of the high-speed railway connecting the industrial city in north China's Inner Mongolia and Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the northwest, was completed and started operation on Tuesday.

This marked the full-line operation of the Baotou-Yinchuan Highspeed Railway.

The D4667 train departed from Baotou Railway Station at 10:08 on Tuesday, and arrived at the Yinchuan Railway Station at 12:45.

The newly-opened section between Baotou and Huinong district in Shizuishan City of Ningxia, which is north of Yinchuan, includes 10 stations, with six of them newly built.

Spanning 97 kilometers, the Huinong-Yinchuan section, with three stations, went into operation in October 2024.

With a total length of 519 kilometers, the Baotou-Yinchuan high-speed railway line has a design speed of 250 kilometers per hour, and includes 13 stations, cutting travel time between Baotou and Yinchuan from about six hours to less than three.

"The completion and operation of the Baotou-Huinong section of the Baotou-Yinchuan high-speed railway marks the longest high-speed railway line opened at one go in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. With this addition, the total operational mileage of high-speed railway lines in Inner Mongolia has reached 880 kilometers, connecting seven cities to the national high-speed railway network," said Li Chao, head of railway and civil aviation division of the department of transportation in the autonomous region.

The full-line operation of the Baotou-Yinchuan high-speed railway, together with the Beijing-Baotou and Yinchuan-Lanzhou high-speed railways, connects five provincial-level regions of Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Gansu, and further improves the layout of the national high-speed railway network, and is expected to play a significant role in promoting high-quality development along the Yellow River basin and fostering new pattern in the large-scale development of the western region.