The Nanjing–Xi'an railway or Ningxi railway, is a major trunkline railroad in China connecting Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province and Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province. The Chinese name for the line, Ningxi, is named after the two terminal cities, Ning, the Chinese character shorthand for the city of Nanjing, and Xi for Xian. The line is 1,196 km (743 mi) in length and comprises the Xi’an-Hefei section in the west, 1,196 km (743 mi) in length, that opened on January 7, 2004. And the high-speed Hefei–Nanjing section in the east, better known as the Hefei–Nanjing passenger railway, 166 km (103 mi) in length opened on April 18, 2008. In addition, a connection line 72 km (45 mi) in length was built in 2004 connected the main line in Sui County and the Hankou–Danjiangkou railway in northern Hubei. The Ningxi railway passes through five provinces in central and eastern China. Major cities along route include Nanjing and Pukou in Jiangsu Province; Feidong, Hefei and Lu'an in Anhui Province; Huangchuan, Xinyang, Nanyang and Xixia County in Henan Province and Shangluo, Weinan and Xian in Shaanxi Province. The main line skirts Hubei Province near Sui County.