Recently, the "Tongyong Yuanmeng" tunnel boring machine (TBM) of the Suzhou East Tunnel on the newly constructed Nantong-Ningbo High-Speed Railway (referred to as the "Tongyong High-Speed Railway") successfully completed a 5,434-meter excavation, marking the breakthrough of the first shield tunnel section of the Suzhou East Tunnel—dubbed "China's First Urban High-Speed Railway Tunnel"—and signifying a new milestone in the project’s progress.

        The Suzhou East Tunnel is one of the key control projects of the Tongyong High-Speed Railway. The tunnel’s northern entrance is located north of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway in Suzhou Industrial Park, while its southern exit lies south of Changbang Road in Wuzhong District, Suzhou. With a total length of 15.57 kilometers, it adopts a single-tube double-track design and reaches a maximum depth of 58 meters. As China’s highest-standard and longest urban high-speed railway tunnel designed for 350 km/h, it has earned the title of "China’s First Urban High-Speed Railway Tunnel."

        According to reports, the "Tongyong Yuanmeng" TBM was developed by China Railway 14th Bureau Group. The project set two industry precedents: it became China’s first large-diameter shield tunnel to pass beneath the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway and achieved the country’s first precise underpass of an operational high-speed railway (Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity Railway) with a ballastless track bed. These breakthroughs have provided valuable experience for similar construction projects.

       The Tongyong High-Speed Railway is a crucial component of China’s "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network along the coastal corridor. Starting from Nantong West Station on the Yancheng-Nantong High-Speed Railway, it runs south through Suzhou (Jiangsu Province), Jiaxing, and Ningbo (Zhejiang Province), finally connecting to Ningbo Station. The new line spans 301 kilometers with a design speed of 350 km/h, featuring 11 stations and a construction period of five years.

        Upon completion, the Tongyong High-Speed Railway will link with multiple rail lines, including the Yancheng-Nantong High-Speed Railway, the Shanghai-Nanjing Yangtze River High-Speed Railway, the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway, and the Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou Railway. This integration will play a vital role in building a "Rail-Integrated Yangtze River Delta" and optimizing the regional transportation network.