The Lijiang–Shangri-la railway or Lixiang railway, is an electrified railway in Yunnan Province of Southwest China. The shorthand name of the line is named after its two terminal cities, Lijiang and Shangri-la. The railway opened on 26 November 2023.[1] [2]
The railway runs 139km (86miles) from Lijiang railway station of the Dali–Lijiang railway, north to Shangri-la in northwestern Yunnan.[3] It will have a design speed of 120km/h.[4]
Despite approval of the project's feasibility plans by the NDRC in May 2009, construction did not begin until July 22, 2014.[5] At the time, construction was expected to take six years. It was subsequently expected to open by the end of 2021. The railway opened on 26 November 2023. with delays caused by flooding and landslips in the complex geological conditions.[6]