(Yicai) June 28 -- The Banan Bullet Train, the first high-speed railroad in China’s Sichuan province to be fully funded by local governments and costing CNY22.5 billion (USD3.1 billion), opened to the public yesterday.

The new line was co-financed by provincial government-owned Sichuan Shudao Railway Investment Group and the municipal governments of Bazhong and Nanchong, the cities in Sichuan where it terminates, according to an official document.

The 149-kilometer line runs from Hanzhong in Shaanxi province to Bazhong to Nanchong in northern Sichuan, passing through the major cities of Chengdu and Chongqing.

Trains running at speeds of up to 250 km per hour on the line cut the travel time between Bazhong and provincial capital Chengdu by 110 minutes to 136 mins and between Bazhong and Chongqing by 75 mins to 166 mins.

As the framework of China’s high-speed rail network is basically completed, the focus of construction has begun to shift to branch lines and intercity links, and local state-owned assets will bear more investment responsibilities in this process.

A government document issued in 2021 clarified that China State Railway Group will be responsible for the construction and operation of nationwide high-speed rail projects, while the funding of branch lines and intercity links will be mainly up to local governments and enterprises.

More than 10 high-speed railroads with a total length of more than 2,000 km are expected to be put into operation this year, half of which are being built and will be operated by China State Railway, and the other half by local government capital, Yicai calculated from publicly available information.

But this new investment model is expected to bring more financial pressure to bear on local governments, so they have begun to bring in private investors.

China’s first high-speed railroad controlled by a private company opened in 2022 and connects Hangzhou with Taizhou. Another privately owned line, linking Yiwu with Wenzhou, will go into operation soon.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione