The Shanghai–Hangzhou high-speed railway (Chinese: 沪杭客运专线 or 沪杭高速铁路), also known as the Huhang high-speed railway or Huhang passenger railway is a high-speed rail line in China between Shanghai and Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The line is 202 km (126 mi) in length and designed for commercial train service at 350 km/h (215 mph). It was built in 20 months and opened on October 26, 2010. The line shortened travel time between the two cities from 78 to 45 minutes.[1] The line is also used by trains departing Shanghai's terminals for Nanchang, Changsha, Guiyang, and Kunming making it part of the Shanghai–Kunming High-Speed Railway. It has made the proposed Shanghai–Hangzhou Maglev Line unlikely.
In September 2010, a test train on the Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed line achieved a speed of 416.6 km/h (258.9 mph) setting a Chinese train speed record.[1]
In October 2010, Chinese officials stated that a bullet train on the Huhang high-speed railway had set a new world record for train speed on a scheduled trip at 262 mph (422 km/h).[4]
"Hù" (沪) is the official abbreviation for Shanghai and "Háng" (杭) stands for Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province.
There are nine railway stations on the line:
On July 1, 2013, the new Hangzhou East station was opened which serves the Shanghai–Hangzhou Passenger Railway, as well as the Hangzhou–Ningbo high-speed railway, the Nanjing–Hangzhou Passenger Railway,[6] and the Hangzhou–Changsha high-speed railway.