Huai'an City broke ground for building the city's East Railway Station for high-speed trains on February 12.
The station, located in a business district, covers an area of 261 mu (17.4 hectares) and includes a floor area of 300,000 square meters, with a total investment about 3 billion yuan. After completion, the station will become a train passengers hub, connecting railways such as Lianyungang-Huai'an-Yangzhou-Zhenjiang, which will open partially by the end of the year, Xuzhou-Suqian-Huai'an-Yancheng, which will open fully by the end of the year, and Nanjing-Huai'an lines.
Yao Xiaodong, secretary of the CPC Huai'an Municipal Committee, said that the high-speed railway will enable Huai'an to accelerate its integration into the Yangtze River Delta economic zone and be part of the world-class cities cluster currently under development. Huai'an aims to build itself into a new platform for reform and opening up and gain new development momentum, according to Yao.
Amid progress in building the railway station as well as implementation of the planning for the second Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, Huai'an finds itself within the Nanjing-centered economic circle that can be completed in an hour and Shanghai-centered urban circle that can be completed in two hours, rising to be a major railway stop in the Yangtze River Delta cities cluster.
During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Jiangsu has decided to build Huai'an into one of the four major railway hubs in the province. Huai'an mayor Cai Lixin said that the comprehensive transportation system, composed of roads, railways, waterways and flights, will promote the city to become a gateway city of the north wing of the Yangtze River Delta.
Source:jschina.com.cn