A 299-km high-speed railway connecting Xi'an and Yan'an cities in northwest China's Shaanxi Province officially went into operation on Friday, bringing China's total high-speed rail mileage to over 50,000 kilometers.

At 10:00 on Friday, a Fuxing high-speed train departed from Yan'an, the sacred Chinese revolutionary heartland nestled in the loess hills of northern Shaanxi, bound for the provincial capital Xi'an, inaugurating the new route.

The rail line passes through the cities of Weinan and Tongchuan cities, stopping at eight newly built stations along its way: Gaoling, Fuping South, Tongchuan, Tongchuan North, Yijun, Huangling, Luochuan, and Fuxian North.

"We used to get to Yan'an by ordinary passenger trains with much lower speed, but this time it only takes a little over an hour, just like popping over to visit a friend next door on our way home. So, we're truly thrilled," said a traveler.

Designed for speeds up to 350 km/h, the Xi'an-Yan'an line is a critical segment of China's national high-speed rail grid, comprising eight main vertical lines linking the north and south and eight horizontal lines connecting the east and west.

During the initial phase of operation, up to 38 trains will run daily, slashing travel time between Xi'an North and Yan'an stations to just 68 minutes, 62 minutes faster than the ordinary passenger train previously available.

During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period (2021–2025), mutiple high-speed railways, including the Beijing-Shenyang, Zhengzhou-Chongqing, Guizhou-Nanning, and Fuzhou-Xiamen-Zhangzhou lines, have entered service, completing 82 percent of China's "eight vertical and eight horizontal" national high-speed rail network.

This has accelerated regional integration and supported the growth of city clusters across the country.

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China has completed and put into operation 12,000 kilometers of high-speed railways, bringing the nation's total high-speed rail mileage to over 50,000 kilometers, an increase of about 32 percent compared to the end of 2020. A total of 128 counties, including Fuping, Badong, and Longzhou, are now accessible to high-speed rail services, further improving the 'eight vertical and eight horizontal' national high-speed rail network," said Guo Chunjiang, a senior executive at China State Railway Group, the country's national railway operator.

Currently, China's high-speed rail system reaches 97 percent of cities with urban populations exceeding 500,000, which has significantly enhanced regional connectivity.