Scenic route
Hotan–Ruoqiang Railway
Hotan → Ruoqiang · China
The 2022 desert line that closed the world’s first rail loop around a sand sea — 825 km along the Taklamakan’s southern rim on viaducts built to let the dunes blow through.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 11325371 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 4 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: China Railway 12306 — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Hotan–Ruoqiang Railway?
The Hotan–Ruoqiang Railway runs 825 km from Hotan to Ruoqiang.
How long does the Hotan–Ruoqiang Railway take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 11 h 26 min for the 825 km. That is an average of 72 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 120 km/h.
Who runs the Hotan–Ruoqiang Railway?
China Railway, with 25G coaches (diesel-hauled).
How old is the Hotan–Ruoqiang Railway?
The line has been in service since 2022. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
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