Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway to open to traffic, marks connection of world’s first desert railway loop line

The Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway, which runs through the southern rim of the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, will open to traffic on June 16, 2022.

The operation of the railway marks the connection of the world’s first railway loop line surrounding a desert with a total length of 2,712 kilometers.

Photo shows a dynamic testing train running on a railway bridge along the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Wen Xinghua)

The Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway starts from Hotan city in Hotan Prefecture in the west and ends in Ruoqiang county of Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in the east. With a designed speed of 120 km per hour, the railway can shuttle passengers from Hotan to Ruoqiang in about 11 hours and 26 minutes.

Photo shows a dynamic testing train running on a railway bridge along the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Wen Zhiquan)

Some 534 kilometers of the railway is located in a sandy area, accounting for 65 percent of the total route. Five bridges were built in the desert with a total length of 49.7 kilometers. About 50 million square meters of grass grids were placed along the railway and 13 million seedlings were planted in order to protect the route and prevent desertification.

Photo shows a dynamic testing train running on a railway bridge along the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Wen Zhiquan)

After the railway opens to traffic, two passenger trains will run along the route, which will be able to shuttle passengers from Hotan to Ruoqiang, Korla, and Urumqi, while offering the shortest travel times of 11 hours and 26 minutes, 17 hours and 50 minutes, and 24 hours and 23 minutes, respectively.

Meanwhile, eight freight trains will also run along the route to transport cotton, walnuts, jujubes, mineral products and other commodities from Xinjiang to inland regions of China.

Train tickets for the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway are scheduled to be available for purchase by the public starting from noonday on June 15.

Photo shows a dynamic testing train running on a railway bridge along the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Wen Xinghua)