(ECNS) -- Shield drilling for the Zhanjiang Bay undersea tunnel of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway in Zhanjiang city, South China's Guangdong Province was completed on Friday.

Started construction in June 2020, Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway, the largest high-speed railway line in Guangdong Province is an important part of the coastal passenger transport link in China's "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed railway network.

The Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway linking Guangzhou and Zhanjiang will run through its full length of 401 kilometers at a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour and is expected to be completed at the end of 2025.

The undersea tunnel with a total length of 9,640 meters crossing nearly 2.5 kilometers of Zhanjiang Bay waters is the large-diameter cross-sea high-speed rail shield tunnel with the longest tunneling distance in China, according to the constructor, the China Railway 14th Bureau Group.

Once completed, it will shorten the travel time between Guangzhou and Zhanjiang to only 90 minutes, greatly promoting Zhanjiang’s participation in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.