Planning of the Chengdu–Kunming railway began in 1952 with several routes under consideration. The western-most route over the most difficult terrain was selected in 1956. Construction began in 1958 during the Great Leap Forward and expanded to full-scale in 1964. In July 1970, the line was completed and entered into operation in January 1971. The government published a pictorial in 1976 showing pictures of the construction and extreme terrain that required hundreds of tunnels and bridges. Building conditions were hazardous and 2,100 workers perished during the construction of the original line. On August 30, 2000, the entire line was electrified. Aside from Chengdu and Kunming, the line has a total of 122 stations.
Sculpture
In 1974, an ivory sculpture commemorating the completion of the Chengdu–Kunming railway was presented as a gift to the United Nations and is displayed at the U.N. Headquarters in New York. The sculpture depicts the rail bridge across the Dadu River between two mountain peaks, with intricate details of passengers inside the train. The sculpture, 150 cm in length and 110 cm in height, was made from eight elephant tusks and weighs over 300 kilograms.
Railway junctions
The Chengkun railway is a major trunkline in China's railway network and connects with numerous other railway lines including: Sichuan Province
Four sections of the railroad which pass through the Niuri River Valley, Manshuiwan to Xichang of the Anning River Valley, Jinsha River Valley and Longchuan River Valley are under the exposure of the vulnerabledebris flow and landslide. Soviet experts used to make a prediction that the railroad "will be turned into a pile of scrap iron by violent nature even after it is completed" in the route design stage; An Imagery Analysis Service Note published by CIA in October 1971 made a statement that " will undoubtedly require more than the normal maintenance because of the rugged terrain it passes through" based on the detected at least two replacement works of the destroyed tracks caused by landslides in the first year of its operation. Upon operation, major natural disasters were not occurred in the Anning River Valley and Longchuan River Valley section due to the thoughtful route selection and complete protection strategies adopted. However, the Niuri River Valley had a faster flow of the river - due to the short in length, steep channel, and unstable valley side slope - did not catch enough concerns in the construction period. Multiple incidents of debris flow have occurred in the Niuri River Valley section especially between Niri – Suxiong and Lianghong – Aidai.
