Chinese state railway CR added four new lines to its high-speed rail (HSR) network at the end of December 2023. On 27th December 2023, a 288 km HSR section between Huangshan and Nanchang was put into operation, completing the 560 km HSR line between Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and Nanchang in Jiangxi province. On 26th December 2023, a 92 km HSR line between Longyan and Wuping in the eastern province of Fujian was also put into operation, which is designed for an operating speed of up to 250 km/h. This line is part of the connection between the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. Also on 26th December 2023, a 162 km HSR line was opened between Shantou and Shanwei in the Greater Bay Area in the eastern province of Guangdong, which is designed for an operating speed of up to 350 km/h. In the southern province of Sichuan, a 261 km HSR line from Chengdu to Zigong and Yibin was opened on 26th December 2023, reducing the journey time to 51 minutes. In addition, on 26th December 2023, construction works began on the 96 km new Shaoyang – Yongzhou HSR line in the Hunan province. The work is scheduled to take four years and is expected to cost €2.53 billion (CNY 19.7 billion).
