High-speed rail brings about a happy life

[Editor’s Note] During this year’s National Day holiday, the railways of Yunnan province handled 2.233 million passengers, a 19.1 percent increase over 2017 equalling 357,000 passengers. Of those, 1.065 million people travelled by high-speed rail, a 97.6 percent increase of 526,000 passengers year on year. It was not until late 2016 that the province entered the era of high-speed rail, but now it has become a hub for China’s national railway network. The improving high-speed rail system is injecting new momentum into the province’s development. In this issue and next two, we will relate the great changes brought by the arrival of high-speed rail in the province.

“Since the Kunming-Chuxiong-Dali high-speed railway went into operation, I go back to Dali every weekend. I watch a movie and I’m home,” a passenger surnamed Wang explained is ‘tale of two cities’ lifestyle when our reporter interviewed him October 7 on train D8690 from Dali to Kunming.

The Kunming-Chuxiong-Dali high-speed rail now operates 36.5 pairs of EMU trains on a daily basis and enjoys a seat occupancy rate of 98 percent. The railway has become the first choice for people living and working along it.

A train ride from Dali to Kunming used to last six to seven hours. Now, the new railway has reduced that duration to two hours, bringing people a real sense of gain and well-being.

“When I was in junior high school, I travelled by coach to Kunming for the first time with a relative of mine and it took us nearly a whole day. Today, the high-speed rail takes me to my university in Kunming in a little more than two hours,” said a student surnamed Li. He made the comments after inviting his classmates to visit his home in southeast Yunnan’s Guangnan County.

In some remote rural areas of the province, finding employment in other provinces as migrant workers is the most effective means of getting out of poverty. In the past, due to poor transportation and backward ideas, many people preferred to do farm work rather than work in cities. Today, the high-speed rail has changed people’s mindsets and brought new hope.

After the National Day holiday, Xiaosu and his fellow villagers in Qujing boarded a high-speed train bound for Guangzhou in the hope of finding jobs. “Now that we can travel by high-speed rail, many of us want to try our luck in bigger cities. We’re willing to act because travelling now takes less time and less money,” Xiaosu said.

In Yunnan, continuously expanding and improving high-speed rail lines are bringing convenience and benefits to more and more people. With its great capacity and high speeds, these new railroads have become an important means of intercity public transport. They have also promoted such industries as education, healthcare, entertainment and tourism, as well as boosted the interaction of these industries between cities.

BY Hu Xiaorong; photos by Yunnan Daily