A map of the soon-to-be-built Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The initial construction plan for the Ningbo-Zhoushan Railway was recently approved by the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

This is China's first high-speed rail with an undersea portion connecting the Zhoushan Islands in East China's Zhejiang province with the mainland.

The railway has a total length of 76.4 kilometers and a designed speed of 250 km/h. It starts from Ningbo East Railway Station, passes by Yinzhou district, Beilun district, Jintang Island, Cezi Island, and Fuchi Island, and ends in Baiquan town in Zhoushan. 

It will consist of seven stops, four of which – Beilun West Station, Jintang Station, Ma'ao Station and Zhoushan Station – will be newly built.

The project with an estimated investment of about 27 billion yuan ($3.9 billion）, is expected to take six years to complete and set two world records.

The railway will run through the 16.18-kilometer-long undersea tunnel from Ningbo to Jintang Island in Zhoushan, the longest in the world.