At 10:38 a.m. on December 30, 2022, the first bullet train of G9230 will depart from Xueye Station, marking the official opening and operation of Jinan Laiwu high-speed railway. The fastest running time from Jinan to Laiwu will be shortened to 42 minutes. Laiwu District, Gangcheng District and the main urban area of Jinan will be directly connected by high-speed rail, ending the history of no high-speed rail in the two districts, helping the rapid development of Shandong on the track, and declaring that the operating mileage of high-speed rail in Shandong Province will reach 2446 kilometers, Steadily rank in the forefront of China.

On January 1, 2023, Shandong Transport Department announced that Shandong will accelerate the construction of two high-speed railway projects, namely, Jinan Zhengzhou High speed Railway and Laizhou Rongzhou High speed Railway, to ensure that they will be open to traffic within the year; Accelerate the commencement of the construction of two high-speed railway projects, Weifang Suqian Section of Beijing Shanghai High Speed Railway Line 2 and Qingdao Connecting Line, to provide Shandong on the track with the potential for sustainable development.

The location advantage of Jilai high-speed railway is obvious

Jilai High speed Railway is the first municipal high speed railway in China, which is mainly used to connect the main urban area of Jinan with Laiwu and Gangcheng. Therefore, the builders of Jilai High speed Railway have always taken "coming for Laiwu" as their mission. However, if you really regard it as a city traffic line, which is not much different from the subway function, it is a big mistake. It is of great significance that Jilai high-speed railway will be connected internally and externally in the future.

First of all, Jilai High speed Railway is an important part of Jinan's meter shaped high-speed railway network, the provincial capital, and also the first high-speed railway project led by the municipal government in Jinan Province. After the opening of Jilai High speed Railway, the interconnection between Laiwu and Gangcheng District and the main urban area has been realized. It will be more convenient for passengers to get in and out of the central urban area of Jinan by high-speed train. It will further strengthen the radiation and driving effect of the main urban area on Laiwu and Gangcheng District, and improve the functional status of the provincial capital city of Jinan, which is of great significance for promoting the integrated development of the provincial capital economic circle.

Secondly, Jilai high-speed railway has obvious regional advantages in Shandong high-speed railway network, which is an important link of Shandong on the track. It is found from the previous relevant planning that the Jilai high-speed railway will extend to Linyi in the future, and eventually build a north-south high-speed railway called Jilai Lin. And Linyi is an important station of the second line of Beijing Shanghai high-speed railway, which is located in the existing North Linyi Station. Therefore, the future Jilai Linhai high-speed railway is actually the connecting line between the second line of Beijing Shanghai high-speed railway and Jinan.

In addition, Jinan Laizhou High speed Railway will also connect Qingdao to Liaocheng via Laiwu and Tai'an in the future. It can directly connect to the west coast of Qingdao with the help of Luzhong High speed Railway and the second line of Beijing Shanghai High speed Railway Qingdao. From this point of view, Jinan Laizhou High speed Railway has the function of breaking the circle and connecting the circle. It is an important connecting line between the provincial capital economic circle, the southern Shandong economic circle, and the Jiaodong economic circle. It plays a very important role in strengthening the connection between Jinan and Linyi, Rizhao, and the west coast of Qingdao. It is also an important new force in building Shandong on the track and accelerating the construction of Shandong as a demonstration area of a transportation power.

Two high-speed railways will be completed and opened to traffic in 2023

At the end of December 2022, at Jingshi West Road in Jinan, the main body of a railway bridge crossing the main road is clearly visible. Previously, the trough girder of Jinan Zhengzhou High speed Railway crossing Jingshi West Road has been closed, laying a foundation for subsequent girder erection and track laying. In Liaocheng Section of Jinan Zhengzhou High speed Railway, the construction personnel are laying tracks on the railway line. The construction machinery is moving along the main line, and the steel rails are slowly entering the groove. A steel dragon connecting Shandong and Henan provinces is slowly unfolding.

On November 15, 2022, Lai Rong High Speed Railway, invested and constructed by Jiqing High Speed Railway Company of Shandong Railway Investment Group, ushered in important progress. With the successful completion of the last smooth blasting on site, Yuhuangshan Tunnel was successfully completed. So far, all tunnels of Lai Rong High Speed Railway have been completed, laying a solid foundation for the next step of ballastless track, track laying and other follow-up projects.

The Shandong section of Zhengzhou Jinan High speed Railway starts from the provincial boundary of Shandong and Henan provinces in the west, passes through Liaocheng, Dezhou and Jinan, and connects to Jinan West Station, which has five stations: Shenxian, Liaocheng West, Chiping South, Changqing and Jinan West. The total length is 170 km, and the design speed is 350 km/h. The project is an important connecting line of the national eight vertical and eight horizontal high-speed railway network, the four horizontal and six vertical high-speed railway network in Shandong Province, and the western exit channel of the high-speed railway network. It is also an important part of Jinan's meter shaped high-speed railway hub. It is significant to optimize the layout of the provincial railway network and promote the connectivity between the central and western regions of Shandong and the Central Plains. It is expected to be completed and opened to traffic in 2023. After the project is opened to traffic, the distance between Jinan and Zhengzhou will be shortened to 1.5 hours, which will greatly facilitate the travel of residents along the line and promote the economic development of relevant regions.

The total length of the Lai Rong high-speed railway project is about 192 kilometers, with a total investment of about 28.6 billion yuan. The line starts in Laixi, passes through Laiyang, Haiyang, Rushan, and Wendeng, and ends in Rongcheng City. There are seven stations along the way, namely, northwest Laiyang, south Laiyang, south Rushan, Nanhai Weihai, south Wendeng, and Rongcheng. Lai Rong High speed Railway is an important part of Shandong's four horizontal and six vertical high-speed railway network and one of Shandong's major projects in 2020.

The design speed is 350 km/h, and the construction period is 3.5 years. After completion, it will be interconnected with Weilai High speed Railway at Laixi North Station, further connect Jiqing High speed Railway and Zhengji High speed Railway through Weilai High speed Railway, and connect Beijing Shanghai High speed Railway and Beijing Jiulong Passenger Dedicated Line through Jinan and Liaocheng, so as to be included in the national high-speed railway network, realize the full coverage of high-speed railways from Rushan to 16 cities in the province, and complete the construction of half an hour in the city, one hour in the peninsula, and two hours in the province A 4-hour fast traffic circle with Beijing and Shanghai. The Lai Rong high-speed railway project is of great significance for improving the peninsula's comprehensive transportation network, promoting the integration of Jiaodong economic circle and driving the economic and social development of the regions along the line.

In 2023, Shandong will accelerate the construction of two high-speed railway projects, namely, Jinan Zhengzhou High speed Railway and Laizhou Rongzhou High speed Railway, to ensure that they will be open to traffic within the year and help the high-speed railway in Shandong Province to operate more than 2800 kilometers and reach a new level.

Several high-speed railway projects accelerated

On November 11, 2022, the first pier shaft of Shanghuibin No. 1 super large bridge on the Jinan connecting line of Beijing Shanghai high-speed railway line 2 from Tianjin to Weifang began to be poured.

In recent years, Shandong has focused on building Shandong on the track and vigorously promoted the provincial railway construction and development. On September 29, 2022, the Shandong Section of Xiongshang High speed Railway will be started; on September 30, the Jinan Binhai High speed Railway will be started; and on October 31, the three high-speed railway projects in the Shandong Section of Tianjin Weihai High speed Railway of Beijing Shanghai High speed Railway Line 2 will be started.

The section from Xiong'an New Area to Shangqiu of the Beijing Xiongshang High speed Railway is an important part of the Beijing Hong Kong Taiwan channel of the high-speed railway network, which is also the south-north high-speed railway out of the province channel running through western Shandong. The total length of the project is 552km, the approved budget for preliminary design is 86.4 billion yuan, the design speed is 350km/h, passing through 9 cities in 3 provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Henan, and there are 16 stations along the line. The total length of the Shandong section is 269km, and the approved budget for the preliminary design is 40.8 billion yuan. Three cities, namely, Nanjing, Liaocheng, and Heze, will be built, with seven stations in the east of Qingdong, west of Liaocheng, east of Yanggu, Liangshan, Yuncheng, east of Heze, and west of Caoxian. After the project is completed, it will be interconnected with Beijing Xiong, Shanghe Hangzhou, Shiji, Zhengxu, Jizheng, Lunan and other high-speed railways. Residents in western Shandong can directly take the high-speed railway to Beijing Tianjin Hebei in the north, to the Yangtze River Delta in the south, to the coast in the east, and to the Central Plains in the west.

Tianjin Weihai high-speed railway is an important part of Beijing Shanghai channel and coastal channel in the national eight vertical and eight horizontal high-speed railway network, and it is also a major landmark project of Shandong Demonstration Zone, a transportation power. The Shandong Section of Tianjin Weihai High speed Railway is 223 kilometers long, with a total investment of 41.5 billion yuan and a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It passes through 4 cities and 10 counties (cities and districts) of Dongying, Weifang, Dezhou, and Binzhou in Shandong Province, benefiting 16 million people along the line. Five stations are set up in Wudi, Binzhou, Dongying South, Shouguang East, and Weifang North.

Jinan Binhai High speed Railway, also known as Jinan connecting line of Tianjin Weihai High speed Railway, is led out from Jinan East Railway Station, the hub of Jinan, to Licheng District, Yaoqiang Airport and Zhangqiu District in the north, to Jiyang District and Shanghe County in the south of the Yellow River economy, to Huimin County and Bincheng District in the east, and to Binzhou Station of the new Tianjin Weihai High speed Railway.

The three high-speed railways pass through 8 cities and 26 counties (cities and districts) in Shandong Province, with a total mileage of 643 kilometers and a total investment of nearly 120 billion yuan.

In 2023, Shandong will also start the construction of two high-speed railway projects, Weifang Suqian Section of the second line of Beijing Shanghai High Speed Railway and Qingdao Connecting Line, make every effort to build a high-speed railway network with internal communication and external communication covering Shandong Province, speed up the construction of a demonstration area of Shandong, a transportation power, and provide strong guidance, support and guarantee for the construction of a socialist modern province in the new era.

Next, Shandong will focus on accelerating the construction of Shandong Demonstration Zone as a transportation power, with the goal of building Shandong on the track, fully promote the integrated development of trunk railways, intercity railways and municipal railways, encrypt, speed up and expand channels, continue to improve the province's four horizontal and six vertical high-speed rail network, and comprehensively open up the fast track between Shandong and important national economic zones.

By the end of the "Fourteenth Five Year Plan", the mileage of high-speed railway under construction and operation in Shandong Province has reached 4400 kilometers, the number of entrances and exits of inter provincial channels has reached 10, the mileage of high-speed railway and provincial entrances and exits have "doubled", the "high-speed railway between cities and cities" has been realized, and a modern high-speed railway network covering the whole province and reaching China has basically been formed.

It is estimated that by 2035, the total scale of Shandong's high-speed rail network will reach 5700 kilometers, the high-speed rail network will cover more than 93% of the county area, the number of entrances and exits of high-speed rail inter provincial channels will increase to 15, and the proportion of high-speed rail with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour will increase to more than 80%. A modern socialist high-speed rail network with four horizontal and six vertical lines will be built in an all-round way, forming a new pattern of provincial capital ring, peninsula ring, and inter provincial ring covering the whole province.

In terms of high-speed rail construction, Shandong, as a major economic province, must be brave. Shandong on the track is expected. Editor/Wang Yan