Pic Story: China railway's development over past decade

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China Railway's development has taken a great leap. From the network construction of "four horizontals and four verticals" to "eight horizontals and eight verticals", with the continuous refinement of trunkline railways, intercity railways and regional railways, the railway network has been woven more closely, revealing its full vitality for development.

From the railway lines in south China's tropical area to those in northeast China's alpine area, from the ones in Tibet Plateau area to those in the eastern coastal area, photographer Liu Shenku has been following the great changes and achievements of China's railway in the past decades through his camera.

Liu has been a railway photographer since 2000. "In the past a few decades, China's transport industry has undergone tremendous changes," he said, "I have travelled to over 31 districts in different cities of different provinces, and have taken hundreds of thousands of pictures." It is known that by the end of 2021, the operating mileage of China railway has reached 150,000 kilometers, of which high-speed rail's has exceeded 40,000 kilometers, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total mileage of high-speed rail in the world.

Photo taken on Jan. 21, 2012 shows the CRH380B EMU train developed for alpine environment in operation on Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Railway Line. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2014 shows EMU trains of Dalian EMU Maintenance Institute overhauled and ready for operation in northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Oct. 1, 2015 shows a train travelling across the Changbai Mountain which is now covered with red leaves, forming a beautiful autumn scenery. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Jan. 21, 2016 shows an EMU train going across the Songhua River on the Songhua River High-speed Railway Bridge in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on May 28, 2017 shows a train going across the Yellow River Bridge connecting north China's Shanxi and Shaanxi Province. The Shanxi-Shaanxi Yellow River Grand Bridge is the longest bridge across the Yellow River with the largest construction scale in China. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Aug. 24, 2018 shows a training running on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway. Beijing and Tianjin are 120 kilometers apart. Now the travel hour between the two cities can be lowered to within half an hour. More than 120 pairs of EMU trains are operated every day. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Mar. 2, 2019 shows a high-speed train crossing the Shuangquan Tunnel of Changchun-Hun High-speed Railway. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Jan. 10, 2020 shows a high-speed train running on the Changchun-Jilin Intercity Railway in northeast China's Jilin Province. The Changchun-Jilin Intercity Railway passes through the rime belt along the Songhua River. Every winter, the trees on both sides of the high-speed railway line are covered with silvery white rime, turning the place into a fairyland. Passengers can enjoy the beautiful rime in Jilin through train's window. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Dec. 1, 2021 shows a high-speed EMU train meeting a freight train in Erdaobaihe Town, Baidun section of the Shenyang-Shijiazhuang High-Speed Railway. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 15, 2022 shows a 5G intelligent train carrying athletes from all over the world across the Juyongguan Great Wall, heading for the Zhangjiakou Winter Olympic Stadium. The Beijing – Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway is an important transport project by China for the 2022 Winter Olympics. (Liu Shenku/Guangming Picture)