China completes track laying on Chongqing–Kunming high-speed railway
The final 500-metre rail pair was laid on October 24. The roughly 700-kilometre line is targeting an opening in the first half of 2027.
Event / data period: 2026-10-24
Published: · Updated:
China has completed track laying on the Chongqing–Kunming high-speed railway, a project intended to connect the southwestern cities through a new 350-kilometre-per-hour line. Xinhua reported the milestone on its English service on October 25, a day after workers placed the final pair of 500-metre rails at Junlian Tunnel on the Yunnan–Sichuan border. The event itself took place on October 24.
The railway is about 700 kilometres long, according to Xinhua’s Chinese-language report. It begins at Chongqing West Station, passes through Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, and reaches Kunming South Station. The route is part of the Beijing–Kunming corridor in China’s “eight vertical and eight horizontal” high-speed rail network. The reported distance is the line’s approximate full length, not the distance between every pair of stations.
Completing the rails moves the project into a different phase, but does not mean passenger service can start immediately. Xinhua said static acceptance checks and integrated testing and commissioning are next. The current target is to open the entire line in the first half of 2027. That is a planned opening window, not a confirmed operating date; the report does not give a test schedule or the date on which tickets will go on sale.
The line is designed for speeds of up to 350 kilometres per hour. Once it enters service, the reported journey time is expected to fall to about two and a half hours between Chongqing and Kunming, and to under three hours from Chengdu to Kunming. These are projected journey times, not measured travel times on an operating railway. The source does not provide stopping patterns or timetable assumptions behind them.
The October 25 English Xinhua page documents the milestone in a photo report; its Chinese-language Xinhua report published October 24 supplies the route, design-speed and planned travel-time details. Together, the reports establish that track laying is complete while testing and opening remain ahead.
Data
Chongqing–Kunming railway design length
Approximate total length of the railway line reported by Xinhua.
- Approximate full route length
- ≈700 km
- 2026-10-24 · Estimate
Methodology
Xinhua’s Chinese-language report describes the Chongqing–Kunming high-speed railway as about 700 kilometres long. The figure is the approximate design length of the full route; it is not a distance between two stations, an operational route measurement, or a measure of track laid.
Updated:
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