OREANDA-NEWS. September 14, 2012.  The network of Hefei-Centered high-speed railway will cover the whole province during the period of 12th Five-Year Plan as many railways are under construction.

Long-awaited Hefei-Bengbu Passenger Special Railway was put into trail operation on September 12. 130-kilometer-long railway makes a great difference to Anhui as the railway connects Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which can significantly shorten travel time from Hefei to Beijing.

It is introduced that Hefei-Bengbu Passenger Special Railway is expected to voperate in mid-October. At that time, it will only be 15 minutes to reach Huainan, 30 minutes to Bengbu and more than 40 minutes to Suzhou.

As early as in 2008, Hefei-Nanjing high-speed railway operated and in the following year, Hefei-Wuhan high-speed was put into operation, which brought great convenience to the residents of Hefei traveling to Nanjing, Shanghai and Wuhan. It only needs 30 to 40 minutes from Hefei to Lu'an and Quanjiao.

At present, several key projects such as Nanjing-Anqing Intercity Railway and Hefei-Fuzhou Passenger Special Railway are underway.

806-kilometer-long Hefei-Fuzhou Railway is a key railway in Anhui, running through Hefei, Tongling, Wuhu, Xuancheng and Huangshan. It is expected to be put into service in 2014 or 2015. By then, it only needs 15 minutes to Chaohu, 30 minutes to Tongling and no less than 60 minutes to Huangshan.

Nanjing-Anqing Railway starts from Nanjing, running through Maanshan, Wuhu, Tongling and Chizhou, and ends in Anqing. It is expected that the railway will operate in 2014.

Anhui Provincial Government issued the planning on comprehensive transport system in April in which a fast railway system with Hefei as its center and linking other cities across Anhui was mentioned.