An inter-city railway linking Changchun and Baicheng of NE China's Jilin province and Ulanhot in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region opened to the public on Aug 8.

The 412-km-long railway begins in Changchun, passes Songyuan, Da'an, and Baicheng in Jilin and terminates in Ulanhot.

The first CRH train operating on the Changchun-Baicheng-Ulanhot railway. [Photo/cnjiwang.com]

It is the first cross-regional CRH railway in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The average speed of the trains is up to 160 kilometers per hour.

The opening of the railway tightens connections between cities and enhances their sharing of talents and logistics. It also helps promote development of tourism and construction of ecological economic zones in western China and industrial transformation and upgrading in NE China.

Construction of several other railways including the Dunhua-Baihe line also started recently, which will benefit tourism in Changbai Mountain and also help with the revitalization of NE China.

Passengers board the CRH train to Changchun at Baicheng Station on Aug 8. [Photo/Xinhua]

Railway construction in Jilin province has achieved much since the beginning of the 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2015).

By the end of 2016, railway operation length reached 5,000 kilometers and about 1,400 kilometers of railway is under construction.

The Jilin government is now focusing on three high-speed railway construction programs -- Dunhua-Baihe, Shenyang-Baihe and Siping-Tonghua, with a total length of 600 kilometers.

After that, a modern high-speed railway network connecting Harbin, Heilongjiang province; Dalian, Liaoning province; Hunchun, Jilin province and Ulanhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, will be completed.

A singer dressed in minority costume sings for passengers on the train from Baicheng to Changchun on Aug 8. [Photo/Xinhua]