Chongqing Mayor Wang Hongju said construction of the rail section between Chongqing and Chuanli City, Hubei Province, will start this year, the Chongqing Commercial Daily reported yesterday.

The section, part of the Chongqing-Shanghai high-speed railway, is expected to be put into use in five years. When the entire project is done, the travel time between the two municipalities will be cut to eight hours.

It now takes 42 hours to finish a trip from Chongqing to Shanghai, via stops in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, Huaihua, Hunan Province, Yingtan, Jiangxi Province and Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province.

This link is one of the four high-speed railways to be built connecting Chongqing.

Construction of high-speed rail lines between Chongqing and Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, will also start this year.

Wang said Chongqing will be built into a national railway hub in 10 years.

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