Beijing–Baotou railway

The first section of the Beijing–Baotou railway, the Imperial Peking–Kalgan railway (now the "Jingzhang" railway) was constructed between 1905 and 1909, connecting Beijing with Zhangjiakou (Kalgan). This section was the first railway designed and built by Chinese. The chief engineer is Zhan Tianyou. He overcame the steep gradient near Badaling using a switchback. Due to his achievement in constructing this railway, Zhan (Jeme) is called the father of China's railways.

The railway was extended from Zhangjiakou to Hohhot by 1921 and to Baotou by 1923.

Even with the switchback, the gradient near Qinglongqiao railway station is still at 3.3%. In addition, travelling through the switchback is slow. A bypass route, the Fensha railway, was built in the 1950s between Fengtai and Shacheng along the Yongding river. This route was considered but dropped by Zhan due to high construction cost. Before the 1990s, the Fengsha railway was mainly used to transport freight, and the original Jingzhang railway was focused on passenger transport. Now, trains to/from Baotou have changed to use the Fengsha railway instead.

The Beijing–Zhangjiakou intercity railway and the Zhangjiakou–Hohhot high-speed railway, which both opened on 30 December 2019, parallel most of the line.

To improve the freight capacity of Tangshan–Hohhot railway, those two railway lines exchange their main line between Hulu railway station and Taobuqi railway station in September 2020, separating the freight and passenger corridors. Meanwhile the section between Taigemu railway station and Baotou railway station was also assigned to Tangshan–Hohhot railway which has been renamed as Tangshan–Baotou railway.^[1]

The main route that deviates via the Fengsha railway is a double-track, electrified line. The section between Jining South and Baotou is quadruple track. The section between Changping and Shacheng is not electrified and mainly single-track. It is now used by little traffic. Freight and long-distance passenger services run via the Fengsha railway. 13 express services run each way between Beijing and Baotou each day, taking approximately 11 hours, stopping in Xuanhua, Zhangjiakou, Datong, Jining South, Hohhot and Baotou.

Line S2 services of the Beijing Suburban Railway between Huangtudian (running via the Beijing Northeast Ring railway and connecting to the Jingbao railway between Qinghe and Shahe) and Badaling (the station for visiting the Great Wall) continue to use the Jingbao Railway, reversing at Qinglongqiao West station on the western switchback on the journey towards Badaling and at Qinglongqiao main station on the eastern switchback on their way back towards Beijing. The stops at Qinglongqiao are service stops, not advertised passenger stops and the doors remain closed.

From 2008 to 2016, the S2 services operated hourly from Beijing North to Yanqing and Shacheng. From 2016 to 2019, the S2 services operated hourly from Huangtudian to Yanqing and Shacheng. Since 1 December 2020 there have been five services between Huangtudian and Yanqing each way from Friday to Monday and on public holidays. On other days there are three services.^[2] These services are the only regular traffic on the unelectrified line east of Shacheng and are operated using diesel multiple units. S2 services continue from Badaling over the short single-track Kangzhuang–Yanqing railway (Kangyan railway) to Yanqing. The Kangzhuang–Yanqing railway was temporarily closed between March 30, 2020 and June 30, 2020.

Some of the following stations are now disused.

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  The Qinglongqiao Station in 1908
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  Sun Yat-sen inspecting the Beijing–Zhangjiakou railway at the Zhangjiakou railway station in 1912, shortly after the founding of the Republic of China.
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  Bridge over the Yongding River in 1952
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  A steam locomotive and a diesel locomotive near Badaling in 1979

• List of railways in China
• Rail transport in Inner Mongolia
• Rail transport in the People's Republic of China