A construction crew completes the tunneling and digging of the Tonguling Tunnel. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The digging and tunneling for the Tongguling Tunnel, which is the longest tunnel on the Fangchenggang-Dongxing Railway line in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was completed on Nov 9 after over 900 days of construction.

All tunnels on the railway line are now connected, and the Tongguling Tunnel is the first in China to connect a railway line to a China-Vietnam border checkpoint. The project is in the process of completing its next steps such as track laying, and electronics and communication engineering.

The Fangchenggang-Dongxing Railway stretches 46.9 kilometers with a designated speed of 250 km per hour, and has a total of eight tunnels with the Tongguling Tunnel stretching 3,790 meters. 

Liao Gang of China Railway Nanning Group said that the rail will boost transport between Fangchenggang and Dongxing once operational and the travel time between the two cities will be shortened from the previous 90 minutes to 20 minutes.

A total of 1,496 China-Vietnam cross-border trains was operated from the January to October period and 272 of them were container trains, growing by 57.5 percent and 112.5 percent separately.

Qiu Zumeng, director of the Fangchenggang transport bureau, noted that the city is now striving to become a national logistic hub city featuring both sea ports and land checkpoints. 

中国首条直通中越边境口岸高铁全线隧道贯通

经过900余天的施工，广西防城港至东兴铁路（防东铁路）全线最长的隧道——铜鼓岭隧道9日顺利贯通，标志着中国首条直通中越边境口岸的高铁全线隧道贯通，为下一步铺轨及通信、信号等工程施工创造有利条件。

据介绍，防东铁路作为广西沿海高铁的延伸线，是通达中国与东盟国家海陆相连口岸东兴的第一条铁路。线路全长46.9公里，基础设施预留250公里/小时条件，包含隧道8座，其中，铜鼓岭隧道全长3790米，为整条线路中最长隧道。

中国铁路南宁局集团有限公司沿海铁路工程建设指挥部副指挥长廖刚介绍，防东铁路建成运营后，防城港至东兴将结束无铁路交通的历史，两地运输时间将从目前的90分钟缩短至20分钟，极大地改善边境口岸城市交通条件。

随着西部陆海新通道建设以及中国—东盟自由贸易区升级版建设不断推进，中国与东盟国家经贸往来更加密切。今年1至10月，经广西开行的中越跨境货物班列达1496列，其中集装箱班列272列，同比分别增长57.5%、112.5%。防城港市交通运输局局长邱祖猛表示，当前正在推进的防东铁路、企沙电气化铁路等项目，将助推防城港成为港口型、陆上边境口岸型国家物流枢纽城市。