The Dali–Lijiang railway or Dali railway (simplified Chinese: 大丽铁路; traditional Chinese: 大麗鐵路; pinyin: dàlì tiělù), is a single-track electrifiedrailroad in Yunnan Province of Southwest China. The line runs 165 km (103 mi) from Dali to Lijiang and was built from 2004 to 2009.[1][2] Bridges and tunnels account 98 km (61 mi) of the total length of the line.[2] The trip by train between the two cities takes 1.5 hours compared to four hours by bus,[1] with maximum rated speed at 140 km/h.
On October 30, 2011, the Dali–Lijiang railway was extended northward by 16-km after the Renhe-Lijiang (Renli) rail extension was completed.[3] The Renli section begins from Renhe station, near Renhe village in Qihe Township of Old Town Lijiang, and runs north to the newly built Lijiang railway station.[3] The new Lijiang station is the second largest passenger railway station in Yunnan and will serve as the southern terminus of the Lijiang–Shangri-La railway.[3]