Come 2022, China will be hosting the Winter Olympics. One of the host cities is Zhangjiakou in Hebei province. The city is 174 Km from Beijing and is connected by a conventional railway. Trains from Beijing to Zhangjiakou cover the distance in around 3 hours, travelling at speeds up to 190 Km/h.

China State Railway Group (CSRG), till recently called the CRC has completed a high speed rail corridor to connect the two cities at a cost of 53.5 Billion Yuans. The corridor will operate the CR400BF trains which operate at a speed of 350 Km/h. They will be able to cover the distance between Beijing and Zhangjiakou in 50 minutes. The line includes 10 tunnels, 10 stations and 64 bridges. One of the tunnels is 1·2 km long, also, one of the stations which serves the Great Wall visitor site at Badaling will be located up to 102 m below the surface. In addition to being high speed trains, the trains on this corridor would be completely automated. Also, passengers would be assisted at the stations by robots for handling their luggage etc.

China State Railway Group claims that tests have shown, the smart railway improved operational safety and comfort, enhanced on-time performance and cut energy costs. The automation will cover all aspects of train driving and cover systems for driving and dispatching as well as intelligent substations. The CSRG has developed 67 smart technologies for this automated network.

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