The 377km Yichang-Yiwan Railway runs from the Yiwan District in southwest China’s Chongqing municipality to Yichang City in Hubei Province. It was designed to shorten the journey between the mountainous regions in the south-west and the eastern parts of China. The railway was first laid out in 1903 but construction did not begin until 2003 because the rough terrain made the project the most difficult in China’s railway history. There are 253 bridges and 159 tunnels, together accounting for 74% of the line’s total length. Once the line is open, the journey from Chongqing to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, will take only five hours instead of the previous 22.

Original article [Railways Africa]