Passengers are pictured at the Beijing Tongzhou Railway Station in the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center in Beijing, capital of China, May 29, 2026. From 2016 to 2026, the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center marks a decade of planning and development. Over the past ten years, it has undergone a remarkable transformation into a vibrant modern area. Photo: Xinhua

China's national railway network will implement a new train-running timetable starting from July 1, which will strengthen connectivity between the country's northwestern provinces with the central, southern, and southwestern regions, while also introducing high-speed train service for the first time between Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang and Beijing, the China State Railway Group announced on Wednesday. 

Tickets under the new timetable will go on sale on Wednesday.

The upgraded network is expected to further enhance Chinese railway's transportation capacity and operational efficiency. Under the new timetable, China's national railways will operate 12,174 scheduled passenger trains, marking an increase of 106 trains compared with the current schedule.

For example, the railway authorities have arranged 58 high-speed trains from Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi to destinations including Nanyang city, in Central China's Henan Province, Hankou city, in Central China's Hubei Province and Chongqing city, in Southwest China.

Wan Yaqiong, director of the ticket sales workshop at Xi'an Station under China Railway Xi'an Group, said that the new timetable will introduce direct one-stop services from Xi'an to Hankou, with the fastest round-trip travel time controlled within seven hours, according to a report by the China Central Television (CCTV) News on Wednesday. 

Additionally, high-speed trains will be operating from Yan'an city in Shaanxi to Shaoshan city in Central China's Hunan, establishing a direct high-speed rail link between the two major "red tourism" destinations -- historical sites with a modern revolutionary legacy, the CCTV News report noted.

After the timetable adjustment, high-speed trains will run for the first time between Urumqi station and Beijing West station. At the same time, the T-series trains operating between Urumqi and Chongqing West will be upgraded to Z-series direct express trains, shortening the travel time between the two places by more than two hours.

The railway authorities will increase the number of high-speed services during morning and evening rush hours on certain high-speed rail lines in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, providing greater convenience for commuter travelers.


Global Times