CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Do you remember the first time you took a train at Chongqing Railway Station? With the opening of Chengdu － Chongqing Railway, the first railway built after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Chongqing Railway Station became the transportation hub of Chongqing. As time goes by, the old railway and Chongqing Railway Station have been changing quietly. On November 18, Chongqing Railway Investment Group Co., Ltd. was founded and announced to start the reconstruction of Chongqing Railway Station － Jiangjin Section of Chengdu － Chongqing Railway. The "transformation" of Chongqing Railway Station was also launched. In the future, together with the old railway, Chongqing Railway Station will have a new look. Do you look forward to it?

Chongqing Railway Station is located in Caiyuanba, Yuzhong District, also known as Caiyuanba Railway Station. It is one of the oldest railway stations in Chongqing, and also one of the important accesses of Chongqing to the whole country. (Picture provided by Chongqing Railway Station)

Many people's impression of Chongqing started from Chongqing Railway Station. In the past, transportation was less developed, so trains became the best choice for people to travel. It was the place where they left home and felt homesick for the first time. Caiyuanba Railway Station carried too many memories of people. (Picture provided by Chongqing Railway Station)

The tracks lied still, stretching afar. Once busy trains roared by here, carrying countless people to the distance. (Picture provided by Chongqing Railway Station)

With a long whistle, the train slowly drove out of the station. After the familiar sound, only silence remained... The Train No. 5611 / 5612 is the only passenger trains running on Chengdu － Chongqing Railway, and also the only green train running from Chongqing to Neijiang. Chen Anliang is the conductor of this train. He has been running this line for 22 years. “Before, it was hard to get a ticket of this train. Now there are only five or six hundred passengers left every day. A lot of people just come to experience the green train trip at present.”

“Chongqing Railway Station was very busy before Chongqingbei Railway Station was put into use.” Zhou Xunlie, 52, has been working in Chongqing Railway Station for 22 years as a porter. He still remembered that when he first came here to work, trains arrived at the station every half an hour at the fastest speed, and almost every train had a luggage carriage. They had just finished unloading when the next train came into the station. Now, such scenes have become memories.

At the ticket window, the place with no light behind the ticket seller Sun Yuting has not been used for a long time. The busy ticket window used to give up part of it to the ticket vending machine. Now it's the off-season for railway transport. In front of the open ticket window, passengers hardly need to wait in turn to buy tickets.

There are few passengers in the waiting hall. Compared with Chongqingxi Railway Station and other newly-built railway stations, the time here seems to stay in the past, still full of manual check-in. "There are usually four or five ticket gates before departure." The post-90s ticket collector Xiang Yuqing is a "new member" of the team. In her memory, it was only during the Spring Festival travel rush or holidays that the waiting hall would be busy.

Now, the reconstruction of Chongqing Railway Station － Jiangjin Section of Chengdu Chongqing Railway has been started. In the future, the old railway will be renewed with vigor, and Chongqing Railway Station will connect the Chongqing － Hunan High-speed Rail and Chengdu － Chongqing High-speed Rail, and realize seamless interchange with multiple CRT lines. A new Chongqing Railway Station is coming to us. (Translated by Luo Juan, Fathom Language Limited)