HOHHOT, July 16 -- A new high-speed railway linking Hohhot, capital of northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Zhangjiakou, the co-host city of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, will become operational by year-end.

It will also be the first time Hohhot and Beijing are linked together by high-speed rail service as the new railroad can connect with the Beijing-Zhangjiakou intercity railway, according to the China Railway Hohhot Group Tuesday.

The travel time between Hohhot and Beijing, about 500 km apart, is expected to be shortened to about three hours with the launch of the new service.

Construction of the Hohhot-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway, stretching 286.8 km, began in April 2014. It has a designed speed of 250 kph. The section between Hohhot and Ulanqab within the region went into operation in August 2017.

Railroad construction in Inner Mongolia registered fast growth in recent years. The region welcomed its first electric multi-unit train in January 2015, and in December 2018, launched the first trans-regional high-speed railway service.

The region now has over 14,000 km of railway under operation, the longest in China.