Southern Xinjiang railway

Southern Xinjiang railway
南疆铁路
Southern Xinjiang railway; 南疆铁路
	The Southern Xinjiang railway through the Tian Shan range in Hejing County
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	People's Republic of China; Xinjiang;
Termini	Turpan railway station; Kashgar railway station
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	China Railway
Operator(s)	China Railway Ürümqi Group
History
Opened	1984 (Turpan–Korla); 1999 (Korla–Kashgar)
Technical
Line length	1,930 km (1,200 mi)
Number of tracks	2 (Turpan–Aksu; Double-track railway); 1 (Aksu–Kashgar; Single-track railway)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	800 m (2,625 ft)
Electrification	25 kV AC, 50 Hz (Turpan–Korla)
Operating speed	160km/h
Highest elevation	2.2%

Map of the Southern Xinjiang (Nanjiang) railway from Turpan to Kashgar

The Southern Xinjiang railway or Nanjiang railway (simplified Chinese: 南疆铁路; traditional Chinese: 南疆鐵路; pinyin: Nánjiāng tiělù), is a railway between Turpan and Kashgar in Xinjiang, China. The railway is 1,446 km (899 mi) in length and runs along the southern slope of the Tian Shan mountain range, connecting all major cities and towns of the Northern Tarim Basin, including Turpan, Hejing, Yanqi, Korla, Luntai (Bügür), Kuqa, Toksu (Xinhe), Aksu, Maralbexi (Bachu), Artux, and Kashgar.^[1]^[2]

The line joins the Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway at Turpan (connecting to Ürümqi) and the Kashgar–Hotan railway in Kashgar.

History[]

The Southern Xinjiang railway was built from east to west. The Turpan-Korla section in the east (457 km) was built from 1974 to 1984.^[2] The western section from Korla to Kashgar (988 km (614 mi)) was built from 1996 to 1999.^[2] From Yanqi to Kashgar, the line follows National Highway 314. The Kashgar–Hotan railway, originally referred to as Phase III of the Southern Xinjiang railway, opened in 2010. From 2008 to 2013, the Korla to Kuqa section, 526.9 km (327 mi) in length, was double-tracked.^[3]

In December 2014, a second double-track electrified line between Turpan and Korla opened to commercial operation.^[4] This new line, called the second Turpan–Korla railway, is 334 km (208 mi) in length.^[4] The line makes use of extensive tunneling to shorten the distance between the two cities by 123 km (76 mi).^[4] The maximum elevation along route is lowered from 2,980 m (9,777 ft) to 1,490 m (4,888 ft), and the steepest incline is reduced from 22.7‰ to 13‰.^[4] The longest tunnel along route, the Middle Tianshan Tunnel, is 22.467 km (14.0 mi) in length and one of the longest railway tunnels in China.^[4]

On 1 January 2021, a branch from south of Kalpin to Tumxuk was opened to passenger service. It is 31 kilometres (19 mi) long and has a design speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph).^[5]

Station list[]

Station	Chinese	Distance (km²)	Location

Turpan ^{Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway}	吐鲁番	0	Gaochang	Turpan
	龙盘
	铁泉
	珍珠泉
	红山渠
	托克逊		Toksun County
	望布
	布尔加依
	鱼儿沟		Dabancheng	Ürümqi
	祖鲁木台		Toksun County	Turpan
	喀尔干特
	夏格泽
	星源
	国光		Hejing County	Bayingolin Prefecture
	阿拉沟
	库林阿曼
	德代沟
	德文托盖
	扎和萨拉
	乌斯特
	哈尔格
	胜利桥
	上新光
	下新光
	哈让古
	巴伦台
	胡斯台
	大西沟
	天桥南
	莫嘎图
	和静	369
	八棵树
	幸福滩
	焉耆	400	Yanqi County
	包尔海
	紫泥泉
	塔什店		Korla
	云崖
	库尔勒	457
	库北
	库西
	肖塔
	库鲁克		Luntai County
	野云沟
	策达雅
	阳霞
	塔拉克
	轮台
	二八台		Kuqa County	Aksu Prefecture
	雅克拉
	牙哈
Kuqa	库车	740
	库车西
	新和	779	Xinhe County
	伊斯克苏
	特尔希克
	羊塔克库都克
	咸水沟		Wensu County
	喀拉玉尔滚
	帕满
	阿克苏	983	Aksu
	三角地
	金银川
	柯坪		Kalpin County
	一间房		Bachu County	Kashi Prefecture
	巴楚	1,200
	五道班
	西格尔		Artux	Kizilsu Prefecture
	八盘磨
	阿图什	1,410
Kashi ^{Kashgar–Hotan railway}	喀什	1,445	Kashi	Kashi Prefecture