63-year-old railway serving Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center retires

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Huang Panyue
Time
2021-12-20 18:12:23

By Feng Qingling and Wang Lingshuo

JIUQUAN, Dec. 20 -- The Qingshui-Lvyuan Railway, which had served the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for 63 years, welcomed the last train on the morning of December 15th. More than 400 people boarded the train to bid farewell to this heroic railway line.

The 240.4 km-long Qingshui-Lvyuan Railway starts from the Qingshui station on the Lanzhou-Wulumuqi Railway in northwest China's Gansu Province, goes north crossing the western edge of the Badain Jaran Desert and ends at the Lvyuan Station in the Ejina Banner of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In 1958, China started to build the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, its first comprehensive missile test range. As the special railway line serving the launch center, the construction of the Qingshui-Lvyuan Railway began at the same time. The Qingshui-Lvyuan Railway was the only railway in the organization of the Chinese military, and hasn’t been marked in the map of China since its completion in 1959.

The construction of the Qingshui-Lvyuan Railway lasted nearly 12 months from May, 1958 to April, 1959. Its operation is of great significance to accelerating the development of the launch center and strengthening national defense of northwest China. Over the past 63 years, this railway has successfully completed hundreds of major missions including the transportation of the Shenzhou series of rockets and has served as the lifeline connecting the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center with the outside world. The Qingshui-Lvyuan Railway is guarded by PLA service members stationed at 35 stops along the railroad, they are responsible for the railroad line maintenance and security of special trains for missile tests and rocket launch tasks.

It is learnt that a new railroad between Jiuquan and the launch center, which is a section of the Jiuquan-Ejina Railway, is expected to open within this year. The railroad, with a full length of 241.675 km, is designed and constructed in line with the National Railway Class II standards and will replace the Qingshui-Lvyuan Railway to carry out the railway transportation duty in China’s aerospace missions.

 

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