Harbin–Dalian high-speed railway

The Harbin–Dalian high-speed railway or Hada Railway (Chinese: 哈大高速铁路; pinyin: Hādà Gāosù Tiělù) is a high-speed rail line connecting Harbin, Heilongjiang and Dalian, Liaoning. Construction work began on August 23, 2007 and the first commercial services began operating in December 1, 2012,[2] nearly one year behind schedule.[3][4] The line is the world's first alpine high-speed railway operating at high latitudes and low temperatures in winter.[5] The trains can continue operating even with snow on the line and the tracks are fitted with de-icing technology. The project cost CN¥95 billion, which was 25% more than the original budget.[6]

Beijing–Harbin high-speed railway Harbin–Dalian Section 京哈高速铁路哈大段
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning
Termini	Harbin West Dalian North
Stations	23[1]
Service
Type	High-speed rail
Operator(s)	China Railway High-speed
Rolling stock	CRH380BG
History
Opened	December 1, 2012
Technical
Line length	904 km (562 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	7,000 meters
Operating speed	350 km/h (217 mph) (summer); 250 km/h (155 mph) (winter)[1]
Route map

Beijing–Harbin high-speed railway

Harbin Harbin West Shuangcheng North Fuyu North Dehui West Changchun Changchun West Gongzhuling South Siping East Changtu West Kaiyuan West Tieling West Shenyang North Xinmin North Shenyang Heishan North Liaoyang Fuxin Anshan West Beipiao Haicheng West Chaoyang Yingkou East Kazuo Gaizhou West Niuheliang Bayuquan Pingquan North Wafangdian West Chengde South Puwan Xinlong East Dalian North Pinggu Dalian Xinghuo Beijing East Beijing

At the time of completion, the railway was the northernmost high-speed line in China. The climate of northeast China poses a challenge to the design; parts of the line had to be rebuilt before the opening due to deformation caused by frost heaving.[7] Eventually, it was decided that the route could be opened for commercial services on December 1, 2012; however, during winters (December through March) it operates a winter timetable, with the maximum running speed of 250 km/h (160 mph). In summer, the service runs an expanded timetable with services running at a higher speed of up to 350 km/h (220 mph).[6] However, the line has a design speed of up to 350 km/h (220 mph).[1] The summer high-speed services also have higher ticket prices than the slower winter service; however, some trains continue to run all year at the 250 km/h (160 mph) speed and lower price, giving travellers a choice of speed versus ticket price.

Under the winter timetable, the 921 km (572 mi) journey from Dalian to Harbin takes five hours eighteen minutes. In summer, the higher speeds reduce the journey time to just three and a half hours.[8]

Test runs along the entire railway started on October 8, 2012.[9] These were restricted to the winter service speed of 250 km/h (160 mph). The first commercial passenger services started on December 1, 2012 with two trains leaving simultaneously, one from Dalian and the other from the new Harbin West station. During the first 52 days of operation, the line transported 2.856 million passengers.[10] By the end of March, there had been 9.4 million passenger trips on the line, an average of 78,000 per day. During the four weeks of the Chinese spring festival, passengers reached peaks of 164,000 per day.[11]

Testing of services at the increased summer speed of 350 km/h (220 mph) began in April 2013 after a delay of one month.[11] Commercial services on the summer schedule began on the April 21st, 2013.[8] The line operates 67 pairs of CRH380BG type alpine EMU trains.[9] These have been specially modified for the Hada railway which must cope with temperatures as low as −40 °C (−40 °F) in winter. Extra insulation has been added within the skin of the carriages and even the vacuum toilets have been modified to operate in this extreme cold.

The track has been specially designed to cope with extremes in temperature. In winter, the temperatures on the route can fall to −40 °C (−40 °F) while in summer they can reach 40 °C (104 °F). Heavy snowfall in the area is also common during winter. This large change in temperature can cause frost heave. As the water in the ground freezes in winter, it expands. In summer the ice melts and water drains causing shrinkage. This creates distortion on the ground surface that ordinary high speed railway lines could not cope with. To combat frost heave, 70% of the line is constructed above the ground surface on viaducts. During construction, about 20 percent of the track that had been built directly on the ground had to be redesigned and rebuilt due to frost damage. This delayed the opening of the line by about a year.[7]

Stations

Station Name	Chinese	Metro transfers/connections
Harbin		1
Harbin West		3
Shuangcheng North
Fuyu North
Dehui West
Changchun West		Subway   2
Gongzhuling South
Siping East
Changtu West
Kaiyuan West
Tieling West
Shenyang North		2
Shenyang		1
Shenyang South
Liaoyang
Anshan West
Haicheng West
Yingkou East
Gaizhou West
Bayuquan
Wafangdian West
Puwan
Dalian North		1
Dalian		3

See also

• South Manchuria Railway, about the early history of the railways in the same corridor
• Beijing–Harbin high-speed railway
• Beijing–Shenyang high-speed railway
• Panjin–Yingkou high-speed railway

References

1. 哈大高铁12月1日开通运营(图) (in Chinese). Huochepiao. 2012-11-25. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
2. "Harbin-Dalian high-speed train begins operation". Xinhua. 2012-12-01. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
3. "First high speed railway in northeast China to open in 2011". Xinhua. 2010-12-28. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
4. "Ha'erbin-Dalian high-speed railway to be open to traffic". DalianNews. 2012-02-16. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
5. "Harbin-Dalian High-speed train begins operation". CCTV. 2012-12-01. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
6. "Speed increase on Harbin to Dalian rail line delayed". Southern China Morning Post. 2013-03-24. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
7. Bai, Tiantian (2012-09-04). "High speed rail may need to be rebuilt". People's Daily Online. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
8. "Harbin–Dalian high-speed railway starts summer schedule". Xinhua. 2013-04-21. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
9. 哈大高铁预计本月25日开通(组图) (in Chinese). Suhu. 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
10. Liu, Tongyang (2013-01-24). 沈阳铁路局党委书记：京沈高铁有望年内正式开工 (in Chinese). Fenghuang Wang. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
11. "Harbin-Dalian high-speed rail to reach 300 km/h". China Daily. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-08-24.