The Shanxi province section of the Jining-Datong-Yuanping High-speed Railway officially starts construction, Nov 17. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

The Shanxi province section of the Jining-Datong-Yuanping High-speed Railway officially started construction on Nov 17. 

The high-speed railway starts from the city of Ulaanqab in Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the north, passes through the cities of Datong, Shuozhou and Xinzhou in Shanxi province, and connects to the city of Taiyuan through the Datong-Xi'an High-speed Railway. 

The total length of the new railway is about 270 kilometers, of which the Shanxi section is about 197 km. The Shanxi section is expected to take 4.5 years to build. 

Once completed, the express railway will connect Hohhot in Inner Mongolia and Datong and Taiyuan in Shanxi. The high-speed railway will also be connected with existing passenger railways from Taiyuan to Xi'an, Taiyuan to Jiaozuo, and Zhangjiakou to Datong. 

This will further strengthen links between Shanxi and Hebei province, Beijing, west Inner Mongolia, and North, Central, South, and East China, accelerate regional economic transformation and upgrading, and promote the development of tourism along the railway.