The Yangtze River Delta, an economically vibrant region in China, on Saturday saw the operation of its first railway loop line, threading the metropolis of Shanghai with major cities in the regional cluster.

Coded G8388, the first train service on the loop railway was launched from Shanghai Railway Station at 10:27 a.m. on Saturday. For a full loop, the train is scheduled to travel for eight hours and nine minutes on a track that extends more than 1,200 kilometers.

Yang Xiuzhi, a senior engineer at the transportation department of China Railway Shanghai Bureau Group Co., Ltd., said that the loop line connects some small cities with central cities in the delta area, allowing small cities to be better integrated into regional development.

Along the loop line, Shanghai and the provincial capital cities of Nanjing, Hefei and Hangzhou are all important transport hubs connected with the country's railway trunk lines.

Dubbed a scenery line, the railway threads through scenic cities such as Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi and Nanjing.