Over the past decade, Bazhong, a city in southwest China's Sichuan province, has entered the fast track in the building of its transport infrastructure and has endeavored to build a comprehensive transport network.

Accelerating the building of a comprehensive transport network

Bazhong formally put its first expressway, which connects the city with Guangyuan, into use ten years ago, marking the beginning of its efforts to build a comprehensive transport network.

A No. K9394/9391 train pulled out of the railway station of Bazhong for Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan, on March 23, 2012, marking the beginning of operations of the long-awaited Guangyuan-Bazhong Railway and the end of Bazhong's history of having no passenger trains.

A No. K9394/9391 train pulls out of the railway station of Bazhong for Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan, on March 23, 2012, marking the beginning of operations of the long-awaited Guangyuan-Bazhong Railway and the end of Bazhong's history of having no passenger trains. [Photo provided to spotlightbazhong.com]

A No. K9413 train departed from Bazhong for Chongqing on the afternoon of January 10, 2016, meaning local residents could finally travel all over the country by train.

The Bazhong-Shaanxi Expressway came into service in November 2018, after nine years of construction. The launch of the expressway connected Bazhong with the rest of the national expressway network, created a new channel for Sichuan to go northward, and provided the city and neighboring regions with support in poverty alleviation and revitalization.

Bazhong Enyang Airport was put into service on February 3, 2019, adding the city to a national list of cities with civilian airports. The opening of the airport further deepened Bazhong's opening-up and cooperation with the rest of the country, and injected new vitality into its economic and social development. So far, the airport has established 18 domestic flight routes.

Bazhong Enyang Airport is put into service on February 3, 2019. [Photo provided to spotlightbazhong.com] 

A bullet train departed from Bazhong for Chengdu and Chongqing via the Bazhong-Dazhou Railway on October 25, 2019. The inauguration of bullet train services has greatly shortened the travel time between Bazhong, Chengdu and Chongqing, and has integrated it within the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle.

A bullet train departs from Bazhong for Chengdu and Chongqing via the Bazhong-Dazhou Railway on October 25, 2019. [Photo provided to spotlightbazhong.com] 

The section between Bazhong and Nanchong cities of the Hanzhong-Bazhong-Nanchong High-Speed Railway started construction in December 2019, indicating that Bazhong had entered a period of rapid construction of its high-speed railways. The city will become a major link in the Xi'an-Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle upon the completion of the high-speed railway.

With a maximum speed of 250 kilometers per hour, the newly built Bazhong-Nanchong section of the Hanzhong-Bazhong-Nanchong High-Speed Railway has a length of 149.974 kilometers. So far, the city has made noticeable progress in the building of the high-speed railway.

Right now, all county-level areas in Bazhong have been connected with expressways. In addition, there are several other expressways under construction in the city.

Statistics show that Bazhong has invested a total of 118 billion yuan ($16.64 billion) in transport construction over the past decade, drawing a promising blueprint for its transport network.