Starting from scratch

In 1965, the largest railway manufacturing enterprise, the CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd, was founded during the first national Five Year Plan. However, it was not until the 1980s that the industry began to build modern railway carriages with steel, instead of wood. With limited knowledge of railway planning and management, and also no access to cutting-edge manufacturing technology, Jilin had to start from scratch when building a modern railway system.

The 360-kilometer-long Changchun-Hunchun line is put into operation in Jilin province in 2015 and has been dubbed the most beautiful railroad in northeastern China. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In 1982, the central government highlighted how railway transportation had become a crucial factor in uplifting the welfare of the nation.

Before the 1990s however, the "green train", an old style train, had still been the main force behind China's transportation system, as well as the steam train.