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A unique railway has been opened in China that connects three major cities on the southeastern coast of the country. Trains that travel along this line can reach speeds of up to 350 km/h and cover a distance of 277 km in less than an hour.

The first train on this route departed from Fuzhou on September 28 at 9:15 am local time. He stopped in the cities of Putian, Quanzhou, Xiamen and Zhangzhou before reaching his final destination. This reduced the travel time between Fuzhou and Xiamen to 50 minutes, while it previously took 1 hour and 20 minutes.

The railway has a stunning view as 19.9 km of its tracks pass over the sea. It crosses three bays - Quanzhouwan, Meizhouwan and Anhaiwan - on huge bridges that were designed to withstand strong winds, high waves, deep water, corrosion and seismic activity. There are a total of 84 bridges and 29 tunnels on the line, accounting for 85% of the total project complexity.

The total investment in the construction of the railway amounted to 53 billion yuan ($7.4 billion). It is China's first high-speed sea railway and is part of a plan to develop a transport network in the south of the country.

China is the world leader in the length of high-speed railways, which at the beginning of 2023 amounted to 42 thousand km. China also plans to connect mainland China and Taiwan by high-speed rail in the future.

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Photo: Xinhua