Beijing-Xiongan high-speed rail section to open Sept 2019

BEIJING - The Beijing section of an unfinished high-speed rail line linking the capital and Xiongan New Area is expected to open in September 2019.

The passenger line will cross Beijing's Daxing District, with a stop at the capital's new airport. It will pass through the cities of Langfang and Bazhou in Hebei Province before reaching Xiongan.

Work on the Beijing section began in late December 2016.

With a total investment of 33.5 billion yuan ($5.3 billion), the five-stop line will include 92.4 km of new rail, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

It will have a designed speed of 250 km per hour for the section between the Liying stop in Beijing's Daxing district and the airport, and 350 km per hour for the rest.

The new area, established in April 2017, is a new economic zone about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing in Hebei. It is the third new area of national significance after the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area.

Beijing's new airport is also expected to open in September 2019.