Southern Xinjiang railway

Southern Xinjiang railway 南疆铁路
The Southern Xinjiang railway through the Tian Shan range in Hejing County
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	People's Republic of China Xinjiang
Termini	Turpan railway station Kashgar railway station
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	China Railway
Operator(s)	China Railway Ürümqi Group
History
Opened	1984 (Turpan–Korla) 1999 (Korla–Kashgar)
Technical
Line length	1,930 km (1,200 mi)
Number of tracks	2 (Turpan–Aksu; Double-track railway) 1 (Aksu–Kashgar; Single-track railway)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	800 m (2,625 ft)
Electrification	25 kV AC, 50 Hz (Turpan–Korla)
Operating speed	160km/h
Highest elevation	2.2%

The Southern Xinjiang railway or Nanjiang railway (simplified Chinese: 南疆铁路; traditional Chinese: 南疆鐵路; pinyin: Nánjiāng tiělù), is a railway between Turpan and Kashgar in Xinjiang, China. The railway is 1,446 km (899 mi) in length and runs along the southern slope of the Tian Shan mountain range, connecting all major cities and towns of the Northern Tarim Basin, including Turpan, Hejing, Yanqi, Korla, Luntai (Bügür), Kuqa, Toksu (Xinhe), Aksu, Maralbexi (Bachu), Artux, and Kashgar.^[1][2]

The line joins the Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway at Turpan (connecting to Ürümqi) and the Kashgar–Hotan railway in Kashgar. It also forms the Taklimakan Desert railway loop, together with sections of the Hotan–Ruoqiang railway, Kashgar–Hotan railway, and Golmud–Korla railway.^[3]