Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province is set to play a pivotal role in the rail traffic system of the Yangtze River Delta region (YRD), which comprises the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui as well as Shanghai municipality, according to a plan released by the National Development and Reform Commission.

The plan stipulates that cities at and above the prefectural level in the area will be interconnected by high-speed railways by 2025.

The time taken to travel between Ningbo and its surrounding cities will be slashed to be 1 to 1.5 hours. Travel between the Ningbo Metropolitan Area and surrounding cities would range between 30 minutes and an hour.

Multiple main railway lines under planning or construction such as the Nantong-Jiaxing-Ningbo railway, the Ningbo-Wenzhou-Fuzhou railway and the Jinhua-Ningbo railway will pass Ningbo during the 14th-Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.

In addition, railways linking the city with its administrative areas including Xiangshan county and Cixi city will be constructed.

Ningbo Railway Station will be included as a stop on the city's subway line 2 and line 4, while line 6 will pass by the Ningbo West Railway Station, according to the plan.