OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2012.  The Anhui provincial government issued a comprehensive transport system plan in April which develops a high-speed railway system with Hefei at its center. The high-speed railway network is under construction and will cover the entire province during the 12th Five-Year Plan period.

The long-awaited Hefei-Bengbu Passenger Special Railway was put into trial operation on September 12. The 130-kilometer railway, which connects to the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, will significantly shorten travel time from Hefei to Beijing.

The Hefei-Bengbu Passenger Special Railway is expected to begin operation in mid-October. Upon completion, travel time to Huainan will be 15 minutes, 30 minutes to Bengbu and more than 40 minutes from Hefei to Suzhou.

The initial opening of the Hefei-Nanjing high-speed railway in 2008 and the operation of the Hefei-Wuhan high-speed railway have provided convenience to residents of Hefei traveling to Nanjing, Shanghai and Wuhan. Travel time from Hefei to Lu'an and Quanjiao is now only 30 to 40 minutes.

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

The 806-kilometer Hefei-Fuzhou railway serves as a trunk line in Anhui, running through Hefei, Tongling, Wuhu, Xuancheng and Huangshan. It is expected to go into service in 2014 or 2015. It will reduce travel time to 15 minutes from Hefei to Chaohu, 30 minutes to Tongling and less than 60 minutes to Huangshan.

The Nanjing-Anqing railway starts from Nanjing, with stops in Maanshan, Wuhu, Tongling and Chizhou, and ends in Anqing. It will open in 2014.