A railway connecting southwest China’s Chongqing and the northwestern city of Lanzhou in Gansu province will be opened to traffic in 2014, Xinhua reported.

The line will become an important part of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe rail cargo route. When completed, it will cut journey times between Chongqing and Lanzhou by two-thirds to 10 hours.

Passing through Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, the Chongqing-Lanzhou railway will cost an estimated Rmb10.5bn to construct.

The Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe railway was launched last year. It takes two to three days for Europe-bound cargo from Shanghai and Suzhou to be carried to Chongqing, then another 15 days from Chongqing to Europe.