Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu passenger-dedicated line or Huhanrong PDL (), is a fully completed rail corridor in China. It is operated by CR Shanghai Group, CR Wuhan Group and CR Chengdu Group. The Chinese name of the railway line, Huhanrong, is a combination of the abbreviations for Shanghai (, ), Wuhan (, ), and Chengdu (, ), three major cities along the line.

The Huhanrong PDL is one of the four east–west high-speed rail corridors outlined in China's national high-speed rail plan. From east to west, it will connect the major cities of Shanghai (a provincial-level municipality), Nanjing (the capital of Jiangsu), Hefei (the capital of Anhui), Wuhan (the capital of Hubei), Chongqing (a province-level municipality), and Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan). The total population of the four provinces and two municipalities served by this rail line is over 320 million (as of 2008).See sources for population in List of Chinese administrative divisions by population; mostly it is the China Statistical Yearbook 2009.

The completed line, as designed during the 4+4 national high speed railway grid plan mostly became a higher-speed railway with trains running at a maximum speed of between Nanjing and Chongqing. The Nanjing and Chongqing sections were even built to National Class I railway standards which can accommodate freight, some sections are planned and built to support double-stack rail transport. In addition the Yichang to Nanjing section has design reservations for at least 250 kilometers per hour operations. The Hefei–Wuhan section even had reservations for 300 kilometers per hour operations. Speeds has been increased on the line to 250km/h between Wuhan and Nanjing on July 1, 2018.

To manage the increasing passenger traffic a newer Yangtze River corridor announced in the updated 8+8 National high speed railway grid plan is now under construction. This newer updated line runs roughly parallel to the existing Huhanrong PDL with most sections designed for a faster standard. Huhanrong PDL will become the Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu railway and begin to handle more freight and local passenger services.

Components All sections are now operational.

Operational lines are marked with green background. Section Description Designedspeed(km/h) Length(km) Constructionstart date Open dateShanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu passenger railway PDL through the Yangtze Valley consisting the Shanghai–Nanjing section of the Beijing–Shanghai line, and 7 mixed-use HSR segments connecting Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Yichang, Lichuan, Chongqing, Suining & Chengdu.350-20020782003-12-012014-07-01Shanghai–Nanjing sectionShares tracks with the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway and Shanghai–Nanjing Intercity Railway.3503012008-04-182008-07-012010-07-012011-06-30Nanjing–Hefei section(Hefei–Nanjing railway)Mixed passenger & freight HSR connecting Nanjing & Hefei2501662005-06-112008-04-18Hefei–Wuhan section(Hefei–Wuhan railway)Mixed passenger & freight HSR connecting Hefei & Wuhan2503512005-08-012008-12-31(Wuhan)Hankou–Yichang section(Hankou–Yichang railway)Mixed passenger & freight HSR connecting Wuhan & Yichang2002932008-09-172012-07-01 Yichang–Lichuan section(Yichang–Wanzhou railway)Mixed passenger & freight HSR connecting Yichang & Lichuan2003772003-12-012014-07-01Lichuan–Chongqing section(Chongqing–Lichuan railway)Mixed passenger & freight HSR connecting Lichuan & Chongqing2002642008-12-292013-12-28Chongqing–Suining section(Suining–Chongqing railway)Mixed passenger & freight HSR connecting Chongqing & Suining2001322009-01-182009-09-29Suining–Chengdu railwayMixed passenger & freight HSR connecting Suining & Chengdu.2001482005-052009-06-30

Shanghai–Nanjing

From Shanghai to Nanjing, the line uses the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway and the Shanghai–Nanjing intercity railway both lines have the designed speed of .

Nanjing to Hefei

From Nanjing to Hefei, the line is called the Hefei–Nanjing railway. The Hefei–Nanjing Railway is shared with the Nanjing–Xi'an railway. It has a designed speed of . At Hefei, a connection is available to the Hefei–Bengbu high-speed railway, which is a branch line of the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway, although both Shanghai-Chengdu Main Line and Hefei-Bengbu branch has now mostly used Hefei South Railway Station instead.

Hefei to Wuhan

From Hefei to Wuhan, the line is called the Hefei–Wuhan railway, with a designed speed of . At Wuhan, a connection is available to the Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong high-speed railway, an important north-south railway line from Beijing to Guangzhou and Kowloon, Hong Kong, although Hankou Railway Station instead of Wuhan Station is on the main line.

Wuhan to Yichang

From Wuhan to Yichang, the line is called the Wuhan–Yichang railway.

Yichang to Chongqing

Yichang–Wanzhou railway

The Yichang–Wanzhou railway connects the cities of Yichang, Lichuan, and Wanzhou. The Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu passenger-dedicated line only uses the Yichang to Lichuan portion of the Yichang–Wanzhou Railway. (The actual splitting point of Yichang-Wanzhou and Chongqing-Lichuan railways is Liangwu railway station)

Due to harsh terrains some part of this section has a maximum speed of , which is the lowest in China's high-speed network.

Chongqing–Lichuan railway

At Lichuan, the Chongqing–Lichuan railway connects it with the city of Chongqing.

Chongqing to Chengdu

Suining–Chongqing railway The Suining–Chongqing railway connects the cities of Chongqing and Suining. Its designed operating speed is .

Suining–Chengdu railway The Suining–Chengdu railway connects the cities of Suining and Chengdu. Its designed operating speed is . Until 2009, this line was considered to form part of the Dazhou–Chengdu railway.

Chengdu–Chongqing intercity railway The newly constructed Chengdu–Chongqing intercity railway links Chengdu and Chongqing directly using a southern route (via Neijiang). This line is operated at which is much faster than the above two lines.

Routing While some sections of the line parallels existing conventional railways, others have been constructed on a new separate alignment, done to avoid difficult terrain, provide a more direct route or to serve areas where no rail service existed before. In particular, until the completion of the Shanghai–Nanjing intercity railway, passenger trains between Shanghai and Nanjing ran on the "conventional", but greatly upgraded, Jinghu railway; conventional railways likewise have long existed along fairly direct routes between Nanjing and Hefei, or between Chongqing and Chengdu.

On the other hand, the Hefei-Wuhan railway, which involved a significant amount of tunneling when passing through the Dabie Mountains, allowed to significantly shorten the railway distance between Nanjing and Wuhan. The Yichang-Lichuan-Wanzhou and Lichuan-Chongqing sections are routed through the mountainous areas of the southwestern Hubei and the eastern section Chongqing Municipality, where no railways or reliable highways previously existed,See e.g. the characterization of the China National Highway 318 and China National Highway 209 as "unstable and unsafe" in: Yichang-Wanzhou Railway (SEIA) (Asian Development Bank, June 2003), p.6 providing a much more direct rail connection between the Sichuan Basin and Eastern China than previously existing ones (such as the one using the older Xiangyu railway).

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