CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- In 1952, with the construction of the first railway "Chengdu – Chongqing Railway" after the founding of New China, Caiyuanba Railway Station was built. On June 20, 2022, the 70-year-old Caiyuanba Railway Station temporarily bids farewell to passengers and usher in a journey of reconstruction and expansion. In the future, it will be built into a national comprehensive railway hub.

With the Eling Mountain in the back, the Yangtze River in the south, and the Caiyuanba Yangtze River Bridge in the east, many people are used to calling Chongqing Railway Station "Caiyuanba Railway Station".

People hurrying to and fro, bustling with activity, such a scene has not been seen in Caiyuanba Railway Station for a long time. People say goodbye not only to a train station, but also to their youth and memories.

In 1952, Caiyuanba Railway Station officially opened. Since then, it has become the starting point for the struggle of generations of Chongqing people, and it was also the first foothold for outsiders to come to Chongqing.

With the passage of time and the renewal of the city, there are few trains departing from here today. The 5612 Chongqing – Neijiang train is one of them. Woohoo... A melodious whistle sounded, and the train slowly drove away, heading for a nostalgic journey.

Chen Xiaoying, 55 years old, has been working in ticket sales since 1992 and is now retired. Knowing that the Caiyuanba Railway Station was going to stop operating, she came to the scene reluctantly on June 17, and brought a collection of passenger tickets that she treasured.

At that time, the conductor selling tickets was like "fill prescription". She needed to draw out the corresponding ticket from hundreds of different grids on the "grid wall" in front of her, mark the date hole, and then hand it to the passenger. Shanghai, Anyang, Fengtai... the old tickets have no names, and we don't know whose stories they hide.

Chen Zhifang, 69 years old, has spent most of her life at the Chongqing Railway Station, from the age of blossom to the age of rarity. She had worked as a porter, conductor, passenger clerk, and passenger clerk on duty. When she was young, she could draw a map of national railways by hand. She can still recite 62 stations along the Chengdu – Chongqing Railway so far.

Jiang Ping was transferred to Chongqing Railway Station in 1991, and she personally participated in and organized the inauguration ceremony of the new station in 1992. She still remembers that in the 1990s, train tickets were hard to get. 24 ticket windows were fully open, and 10 temporary ticket offices had been added, and the queue was still lined up outside the square.

With the tide of reform and opening up, in the past 70 years, the trains departing from Caiyuanba Railway Station carried countless people from here to different places to work hard. The picture shows the station attendant guiding the migrant workers to take the special train in an orderly manner.

At the ticket window of Caiyuanba Railway Station, there was a line of people who came to buy tickets. "I haven't seen such a lively scene for a long time," the ticket salesperson said with a smile. The reporter found that on 12306, the last two days of "Chongqing – Neijiang" tickets have also been sold out.

Like life, goodbyes always come so suddenly. Goodbye, Caiyuanba Railway Station, we are waiting for your return! In the future, it will be built into a national comprehensive railway hub. (Translated by Wang Jing, Fathom Language Limited)