China rolls out new national rail timetable on July 1 with Beijing-Urumqi high-speed service

China will launch a revised national train timetable on July 1, with the headline addition being a new high-speed rail service connecting Beijing and Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region in the country's far northwest.

The route represents one of the longest high-speed rail links in the network, spanning thousands of kilometres across some of China's most varied terrain. The new timetable will bring changes to services across the broader national rail system at the same time.

China periodically updates its train schedules to reflect expansions in its high-speed network, which is already the largest in the world. The July 1 revision underscores the country's continued investment in connecting its western regions to major eastern population centres.