The blueprint for building a high-speed rail link between Chengdu and Chongqing has been submitted to the State Development and Reform Commission for approval. According to the plan, all cities within the economic region with a population of at least 500,000 and two-thirds of those with a population of 200,000-500,000 will have high-speed rail links, making each city within one hour’s reach of another.

Currently, the journey between Chengdu and Chongqing takes just over two hours, and this will be trimmed to just under two hours by the end of this year when the No.2 Suining-Chongqing line is completed. By 2014, when the Chengdu-Chongqing high-speed passenger line is expected to be completed, the journey time between the two cities will be cut to just 57 minutes.