Shandong’s new high-speed railway opened Wednesday connecting the province’s capital, Jinan, with the eastern port city of Qingdao.

The railway cuts the journey between the two cities down from 2 hours and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes, with trains reaching speeds of 300 kilometers (186 miles) per hour in the initial stages of operation, official news agency Xinhua reported.

The new 308-kilometer route is one section of a partially completed longer line stretching from Qingdao to Yinchuan, the capital of western China’s landlocked Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and is also the northernmost east-west line of China’s new “Four Vertical and Four Horizontal” rail grid, according to a press release from the Shandong government in November.