East China's Zhejiang province will step up high-speed railway construction to enhance connection among cities, said Wang Lianghui, deputy director of Ningbo railway and west transportation hub construction center, a regional development regulator.

The role of HSRs in accelerating the integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta region "has become even more critical than before" amid the nation's call of facilitating the dual-circulation development pattern and boosting domestic demand, Wang said during an inspection tour to the construction site of the Moushan Railway Station, a newly built project on the Ningbo-Yuyao-Cixi Intercity Railway.

The HSR is being constructed by China Railway 24th Bureau Group Corp, a unit of China Railway Construction Corp.

Zhejiang has been boosting railway services. For example, the intercity train service between economically powerful cities Ningbo and Hangzhou in Zhejiang began trial operations on Aug 1.

The train, which is the first intercity train service connecting the three cities of Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Ningbo, covers a distance of 147 kilometers and has a total travel time of approximately 2 hours.

This development signifies a significant step towards the integration of the Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Ningbo region.

Initially, there will be two round trips per day between Ningbo Railway Station and Hangzhou South Railway Station.

China has made notable achievements in improving its transport infrastructure network for the past year, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Fixed-asset investment in the country's transport system totaled 3.9 trillion yuan ($539 billion) in 2023, the ministry said.

A total of 2,776 kilometers of high-speed railways were opened, and 7,000 kilometers of expressways were built or expanded last year. The country added or improved 1,000 kilometers of shipping lanes, and the number of airports for transportation stood at 259. Postal services were available to all administrative villages.

Editor: Shao Wenyun