HARBIN -- A high-speed railway linking the cities of Mudanjiang and Jiamusi in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province started operation on Monday, stretching 372 km in the frigid zone.

As the country's easternmost high-speed railway, it extends the existing Shenyang-Mudanjiang Railway in Northeast China to link with more cities, including Jixi, Qitaihe, Shuangyashan and Jiamusi.

Running through 173 newly-built bridges and 34 tunnels, the Mudanjiang-Jiamusi Railway has a designed speed of 250 km per hour, shortening the inter-city travel time to two hours and ten minutes.

Niu Yongping, chief engineer of the railway project of China Railway Design Corporation, said the Mudanjiang-Jiamusi Railway is the most frost-resistant high-speed railway in China. All power and signal tools are made with cold-resistance materials.

Eighteen pairs of trains will ply daily on the railway, which can operate at minus 30 to minus 40 degrees Celsius running through areas of frozen earth, ice and snow.