Opening of the Wuhan–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway

On December 26, 2009, China Railway officially inaugurated the Wuhan–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway, a 968‑kilometer corridor designed for speeds up to 350 km/h. Upon opening, it was the fastest scheduled train service in the world, slashing travel times between Central and South China from ten hours to about three. This line played a transformative role in China’s rapid urban integration, linking major metropolitan regions along an economically vital axis. The project demonstrated China’s capacity to engineer large‑scale high‑speed infrastructure with unprecedented speed, setting new global benchmarks. Its success accelerated national planning for an interconnected high‑speed grid, eventually influencing worldwide perceptions of modern passenger rail. The line remains one of the most heavily used high‑speed corridors in China, pioneering operational practices later adapted throughout the national network.