China launches rail line to provide fastest access to 'bastion of poverty'

China on Thursday put into operation a train service in a tough hilly area, which despite its scenic mountains has remained a "major bastion of poverty", official media reported.

The rail line links Qianjiang district of the southwestern Chongqing Municipality and the city of Changde in central Hunan Province, passing through seven railway stations with a maximum speed of 200 kph in its initial phase of operation.

The 335-km rail line boasts a station in the city of Zhangjiajie, known for its pillar-like mountains that are said to have influenced the scenery in the Hollywood movie 'Avatar', the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The railway project is regarded as both an engineering feat and a powerful aid to the local poverty reduction drive in Qianjiang, which has remained a "major bastion of poverty".

The project is part of a major rail line connecting Chongqing, Changsha in Hunan and Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province.

The design of the rail line started in 2009 and its construction began in December 2014.

"We have successfully solved the global problem of how to pass rail lines through treacherous karst regions," said Liu Tingxi, chief designer of the rail line, referring to the limestone region with sinkholes, underground streams and caverns.

About 143 km of the rail line passes through the Karst region, Liu said, adding that "it is where the attractive scenery is, but also where the risks for the project lie".

Due to the mountainous terrain of the region, constructors built 104 tunnels and 196 bridges, whose total length accounts for about three-quarters of the rail line, the report said.