Coal is loaded into the train on the Datong-Qinhuangdao line in Datong, Shanxi province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Over the past three decades, the Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway, which links Datong in Shanxi province with the port city of Qinhuangdao in Hebei province, has transported over 7.9 billion metric tons of coal, according to the China Railway Taiyuan Group.

As the most important railway in the country for coal transport, it also had the world's highest annual transport volume of 451 million tons for a single railway.

Trains on the Datong-Qinhuangdao line rest at Datong, Shanxi province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 653-kilometer railway is the first double-track electrified and heavy-haul coal transport line in China. It is the main coal shipping channel from west to east, covering six major power grids, five major power generation companies, more than 380 major power plants, 10 major steel companies and more than 6,000 enterprises across the country.

A section of the Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway in Datong, Shanxi province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The railway has continually deepened independent innovation and made equipment upgrades since the first phase of the project opened in 1988. The whole line opened to traffic in 1992.

Many world-leading technological innovations with independent intellectual property rights have emerged from the railway.