The 872-kilometre-long railway, connecting the city of Neijiang in Southwest China's Sichuan Province with Kunming, the capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, is the third major railroad in western and southwestern China, according to People's Daily.

The other two are the Chengdu-Kunming and Nanning-Kunming railways, which already are operating.

With an investment of 12 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion), the new railroad aims to accelerate the economic development of the western region, which has suffered from poverty for decades due in part to poor transportation infrastructure.

The construction of the railway kicked off in June 1998.

It took some 50,000 workers more than three years to complete the railroad.

The railway starts at less than 300 metres above sea level but climbs to an elevation of more than 2,200 metres.

The longest tunnel along the railroad covers 2,560 metres.

Also 13 bridges higher than 50 metres have been built for the railroad, with one of them as high as 110 metres and longer than 1,000 metres.

Along the new railway, workers planted a large number of trees to conserve water and soil and protect the relatively fragile ecology there.

People in Southwest China have been dreaming of the new railway for over a century.

In 1905, the first plan of building such a railway was initiated by the government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), together with a few local businessmen, but the plan fell apart due to lack of funds.

In 1939, the Kuomintang government attempted to build such a railroad but also failed after building only 172 kilometers because of the uneven terrain.

In 1956, the government of New China began this arduous project again but lack of technology and necessary equipment halted progress, leaving only the northern part of the railway finished. After nearly 40 years, the central government once again made up its mind to complete the railroad, in accordance with the strategy of developing the west.

(China Daily 10/06/2001)