CHENGDU, Dec. 26 -- China on Tuesday opened a new high-speed railway in the southwestern province of Sichuan, linking the provincial capital of Chengdu with the cities of Zigong and Yibin.

The Chengdu-Zigong-Yibin high-speed railway boasts a designed speed of 350 km per hour and has 12 stations along its 261-km line.

Due to complicated terrain, the new line has 231 bridges and 29 tunnels, according to Zhang Zongwei, commander of the Chengdu-Zigong-Yibin high-speed railway company.

The new rail line is a supplement to an existing one between Chengdu and Guiyang with a designed speed of 250 km per hour. The two form a loop between Chengdu and Yibin.

Through cutting travel time, the line is designed to help cities like Yibin and Zigong in south Sichuan and other cities in the neighboring provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou further integrate into the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle.

The railway is part of China's high-speed rail network that centers around eight main vertical lines linking the north and south and eight horizontal lines connecting the east and west.