The Beijing–Baotou railway or Jingbao railway is an railway from Beijing to Baotou, Inner Mongolia, functioning as an important route in North China. It was the first railway in China designed and built by Chinese. It passes through a famous section of the Great Wall at Badaling. It is now largely paralleled by Beijing–Zhangjiakou intercity railway and Zhangjiakou–Hohhot high-speed railway. In 2019, with the opening of the Beijing–Zhangjiakou intercity railway, the Beijing–Baotou railway adjusted the mileage. The ordinary-speed line from Changping to Shahe was merged into the Shuangqiao–Shahe Railway. The actual starting point of the Beijing–Baotou railway was shortened to the south side of Changping, the section from Changping to Beijing North is considered part of Beijing–Zhangjiakou intercity railway.
History
The first section of the Beijing–Baotou railway, the Imperial Peking–Kalgan railway was constructed between 1905 and 1909, connecting Beijing with Zhangjiakou. This section was the first railway designed and built by Chinese. The chief engineer is Zhan Tianyou. He overcame the steep gradient near Badaling using a switchback. Due to his achievement in constructing this railway, Zhan is called the father of China's railways. The railway was extended from Zhangjiakou to Hohhot by 1921 and to Baotou by 1923. Even with the switchback, the gradient near Qinglongqiao railway station is still at 3.3%. In addition, travelling through the switchback is slow. A bypass route, the Fensha railway, was built in the 1950s between and along the Yongding river. This route was considered but dropped by Zhan due to high construction cost. Before the 1990s, the Fengsha railway was mainly used to transport freight, and the original Jingzhang railway was focused on passenger transport. Now, trains to/from Baotou have changed to use the Fengsha railway instead. The Beijing–Zhangjiakou intercity railway and the Zhangjiakou–Hohhot high-speed railway, which both opened on 30 December 2019, parallel most of the line.
Current operations
The main route that deviates via the Fengsha railway is a double-track, electrified line. The section between and is quadruple track. The section between Changping and is not electrified and mainly single-track. It is now used by little traffic. Freight and long-distance passenger services run via the Fengsha railway. 13 express services run each way between Beijing and Baotou each day, taking approximately 11 hours, stopping in, Zhangjiakou,, Jining South, and Baotou.
Line S2
services of the Beijing Suburban Railway between Huangtudian and Badaling continue to use the Jingbao Railway, reversing at QinglongqiaoWest station on the western switchback on the journey towards Badaling and at Qinglongqiao main station on the eastern switchback on their way back towards Beijing. The stops at Qinglongqiao are service stops, not advertised passenger stops and the doors remain closed. From 2008 to 2016, the S2 services operated hourly from Beijing North to Yanqing and Shacheng. From 2016 to 2019, the S2 services operated hourly from Huangtudian to Yanqing and Shacheng. Since the opening of the Beijing–Zhangjiakou intercity railway in 2019, the S2 service has been reduced to four daily services between Huangtudian and Badaling, stopping only in Nankou. On Fridays to Mondays and public holidays, an additional service runs between Huangtudian and Shacheng, stopping only in Badaling and Kangzhuang. These services are the only regular traffic on the unelectrified line east of Shacheng and are operated using diesel multiple units. S2 services formerly continued from Badaling over the short single-track Kangzhuang–Yanqing railway to. From March 30, 2020 to June 30, 2020, the Kangzhuang–Yanqing railway is temporarily closed.
