This drone photo taken on July 1, 2025 shows the high-speed railway track-laying completion ceremony at the Yan'an Railway Station in Yan'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Track-laying for a high-speed railway linking Xi'an and Yan'an in Shaanxi completed on Tuesday. Once launched, the new railway will shorten the trip between Xi'an and Yan'an from 2.5 hours to around one hour. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

A high-speed railway line linking Xi'an, the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, with the city of Yan'an in northern Shaanxi has commenced trial operations, a key milestone ahead of its official opening, the China Media Group reported on Monday. 

The trial run commenced on Monday morning when test train 55302 departed from Xi'an toward Yan'an, transitioning from the joint debugging and testing phase to operational simulations.

Prior to the start of the trial operation, the joint debugging and testing phase of the Xi'an-Yan'an High-Speed Railway was successfully completed, fulfilling all testing tasks. 

He Yafeng, a senior engineer from the Xi'an railway branch, stated that nearly 400 test train runs were conducted during the joint debugging and testing phase, accurately collecting tens of thousands of data points across various parameters such as track geometry, catenary voltage, and signal response speed.

To balance testing efficiency with equipment optimization, the team iterated the test plan eight times, laying a solid foundation for the trial operation and the safe commencement of services, according to He. 

As the first high-speed railway in northern Shaanxi's old revolutionary base area, this 299.8-kilometer project is designed for speeds of 350 kilometers per hour and slashes the journey duration between Xi'an and Yan'an from 2.5 hours to approximately one hour.

Yan'an holds profound historical significance, as it served as the base of the Communist Party of China leadership between 1937 and 1947, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. 

Global Times