CREC4 builders finish building the 88-meter continuous beams for the Grand Bridge Traversing Rongcheng–Wuhai Expressway for the Longkou-Yantai Railway. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Liu stressed that, to date, the main civil engineering of the whole line is entering its final stage, with construction of bridge attachments, roadbed protection, tunnel lining, and station building advancing synchronously.

He added that the CREC4 project department will steadily promote the engineering construction and strive to open the line to traffic as soon as possible.

Upon operation, the Longkou-Yantai Railway Urban Upgrade Project will open up the fast east-west transport artery in Yantai city, serving the diversified passenger flows in daily commuting, airports, ferries, and tourism along the route.

Early this year, Chinese railway operator China Railway promised to expand the operating mileage of railways from the current 165,000 kilometers to 180,000 kilometers by the end of 2030.