China's first high-speed railway built for extreme cold in the country's northeast region handles 1 billion passenger trips

As of June 17, 2025, the Harbin-Dalian high-speed railway (Harbin-Dalian HSR) has safely handled more than 1 billion passenger trips, the railway’s operator China Railway Harbin Bureau Group Co, told the Global Times in a statement.

As the world's first high-speed railway operating at high latitudes and extremely low temperatures in winter, the Harbin-Dalian HSR traverses areas where temperature differences between summer and winter can exceed 70 degrees Celsius.

Over the past decade, the Harbin-Dalian HSR has filled key technical gaps in high-speed rail operation under extreme cold conditions, the company said.

It has developed an integrated safety management system covering infrastructure, rolling stock, comprehensive inspection, disaster prevention and mitigation, and emergency response, forming a complete safety framework tailored to alpine high-speed rail operations.

The company said it has developed a robust safety operation system to manage extreme cold and snowy conditions through continuous exploration and practice. It has put in place a weather disaster early warning and forecasting system, refined its snow and ice emergency response mechanisms, and adopted a tiered management approach for de-icing and snow removal at railway turnouts. 

Based on snowfall levels, measures such as turnout heating, staggered train operations, and manual snow clearing are implemented to ensure the high-speed railway remains safe and operational.

Since its launch on December 1, 2012, the railway has developed an integrated safety management system that covers infrastructure, rolling stock, comprehensive inspections, disaster prevention and mitigation, and emergency response. A complete set of cold-region safety protocols has ensured the line’s stable and secure operation, according to the operator.

The high-speed rail line now links major cities across northeast, north, central and east China, significantly cutting travel time and helping improve local economies along the line. It has injected renewed vitality into the revitalization of Northeast China, the company said.

The operator said it has successfully addressed the issue of frost heave affecting railway subgrades in extremely cold regions, allowing for year-round operations under a unified timetable for both winter and summer. Trains now maintain a consistent operating speed of 300 kilometers per hour throughout the year.

Later this year, the Harbin-Dalian HSR will be connected to the Shenyang-Baishan High-Speed Railway, forming a two-hour economic zone centered around Shenyang, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province; Changchun, Northeast China’s Jilin Province; and Dalian, also in Liaoning, according to the company. The integration will help establish a three-hour business travel circle linking all major northeastern cities with China’s capital city of Beijing.