HEFEI -- A new high-speed railway route connecting east and central China started operation on Sunday.

With a designed speed of 350 kph, the route connects the city of Shangqiu in Central China's Henan Province, and Hefei and Hangzhou, the capital cities of East China's Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.

The northern section of the railway, from Shangqiu to Hefei, went into operation in December 2019, according to the China Railway Shanghai Group Co., Ltd.

Covering a distance of 794.55 km, the Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou high-speed railway can help further promote the development of central China and the regional integration of the Yangtze River Delta, with the latter involving Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.