The construction of the Fuping Railway - which links the capital city of Fuzhou and the island county of Pingtan in Fujian province – began on Oct 31.

The railway line stretches 88.4 kilometers, with a designed speed of 160 km per hour (Fuzhou-Fuzhou South) and 200 km per hour (Fuzhou South to Pingtan), a passenger capacity of 50 million and cargo capacity of 15 million tons.

The railway project – with total accrued investment reaching 26.8 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) - is expected to take over?five years to complete.

The line will start at Fuzhou, and cross the Minjiang River, Xiaolian Island, Dalian Island and finally arrive at the Pingtan railway station near Erbu Mountain in the county's Zhonglou town after making a total of six stops.

The railway project involves building a double layer bridge across Haitan Strait, which is said to be the first cross-sea railroad bridge in China. It will span 11.15 km, with a two-way six-lane highway on the upper level and a double-track railway on the lower level.

The project will mean that the travel time between Pingtan and Fuzhou will be reduced to only 30 minutes by train and one hour by car.

Vehicles can currently only commute in and out of Pingtan on the Haixia Bridge, which leads to traffic congestion, and it takes about 2.5 hours to travel between Pingtan and Fuzhou by highway.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman