A view of the construction site of Jintang undersea tunnel of Ningbo-Zhousha (Image: China News Service via Getty Images)
The world’s longest high-speed underwater railway tunnel is costing an estimated £3.2bn — and it will soon cut what was once a two-hour commute down to just 26 minutes thanks to rapid bullet trains.
The ambitious project in China was first mooted back in 2005 but it wasn’t until 2018 when Beijing approved the plans before work began in November 2022.
Construction is well underway and the line will connect Ningbo, a city south of Shanghai, to the islands at Zhoushan, an archipelago on the east coast of the country. One of the aims is also to create a two-hour commute zone within Zhejiang Province.
Tunnel boring machine Dinghai kicks off excavation works for Jintang (Image: VCG via Getty Images)
The 47.8-mile railway route will include a 10-mile undersea section and the Yong-Zhou Railway will connect Ningbo East Station and Zhoushan (Baiquan) Station. This will make it the longest underwater railway tunnel in the world. Travellers will be able to use the high-speed trains that can reach 250 kilometres per hour to get to their destination.
The rail network in China is already highly advanced, and the new underwater route will take people from Hangzhou (capital city of Zhejiang) to Zhoushan in 77 minutes. As it stands, the same journey would currently take four-and-a-half hours via bus or two-and-a-half hours by car.
The trip between Ningbo and Zhoushan meanwhile will take just 26 minutes compared to two hours by bus and up to 90 minutes via car. The project will involve seven stations along the path between Ningbo and Zhoushan including four new ones and three that are being redeveloped — and there will also be a bridge built to link parts of the archipelago.
The entrance of the rapid rescue passage in Zhoushan (Image: VCG via Getty Images)
This month, the chief mechanical engineer of the Yongzhou Railway project, Dong Bing, shared an update. He spoke about the 135-meter-long tunnel-boring machine currently operating some 93 metres below the seabed.
The large-diameter machine is called Yongzhou and it helps drill through mountainous regions and subterranean landscapes. The brains behind it say it is “more sensitive than humans” in relation to detecting anomalies during the digging process.
Mr Bing, the chief mechanical engineer of the project, said: “Some problems are impossible to detect through human inspection. You might walk by and everything seems fine, but a second later, a problem arises. The system can also collect data, identify related conditions, and analyze potential causes. This is a huge help for safety.”
Speaking about adapting to different terrains and conditions, Hao Weiqi, deputy director of the High-End Equipment Industry Technology Research Institute at China Railway Construction Corp, told Global Times: “We can tailor the machines to specific underground environments, while simultaneously providing integrated solutions that combine equipment, intelligent systems, and technical services throughout the entire construction process.”
Inside the rapid rescue passage (Image: VCG via Getty Images)
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Once the tunnel boring machine has completed 83% of the excavation it will then meet the second tunnel boring machine called Dinghai which will result in the tunnel, located 93 metres below the Ningbo seabed, being close to completion.
The project, made possible from an investment of 27bn yuan (approx £3.2bn), is expected to be finished in 2028.
