A high-speed railway route connecting Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, and Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province is put into operation on June 28. [Photo/WeChat account:huzhoufabu] 

A high-speed railway route connecting Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, and Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province was put into operation on June 28. 

The section is an integral part of the Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou high-speed railway, which connects the city of Shangqiu in Central China's Henan province with Hefei and Hangzhou, the capital cities of East China's Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.

The northern section of the railway, from Shangqiu to Hefei, was put into operation in December last year.

The newly opened section is expected to reduce travel time between Huzhou and Hefei from more than two hours to just one hour.

It will take just 10 minutes to travel from Huzhou to its affiliated county, Anji, where previously no railway passed through. 

With a maximum speed of up to 350 km/h, the 796.9-km Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou high-speed railway consists of 29 stations, four of which are located in Zhejiang, namely Anji station, Huzhou station, Deqing station and Hangzhou east station. 

Huzhou is set to become a regional transport hub in the Yangtze River Delta, as the city is at the intersection of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway, which started construction earlier this month, as well as the Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou high-speed railway.

It will also be the only city within one hour of Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei by high-speed rail.