In central China, AI is telling humans how to build a high-speed rail tunnel

Machines trained in complex mountain data carefully navigate fault lines, fractures, caves and sinkholes to pick the best excavation method

Reading Time:4 minutes

China has put into operation nearly 19,000 railway tunnels, including over 4,900 high-speed railway tunnels, according to a recently published paper in Railway Standard Design. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:00pm, 19 Nov 2025Updated: 1:26pm, 19 Nov 2025

In Wufeng Tujia autonomous county, Hubei province, the rugged beauty of central China masks the region’s long-standing isolation. Its steep terrain and dense forests have long hindered transport, stifling growth and keeping communities cut off both physically and economically.

But a new force is now reshaping the landscape – with dynamite, drilling rigs and lines of code.

The Yangcun Tunnel in Wufeng is part of a high-speed rail line designed to bring 350km/h (217mph) trains into one of China’s most geologically complex regions. It represents the world’s first high-speed railway tunnel whose construction method was mainly determined by an artificial intelligence (AI) system – before being executed by human engineers and workers.

This milestone could mark a pivotal moment for the global AI race.

The tunnel cuts through the heart of Wufeng, a region shaped by hundreds of millions of years of geological upheaval. The area sits within the Wuling Mountain range, characterised by karst landscapes, deep fractures, fault zones, underground rivers and highly variable rock formations.

Wufeng is known to host over 120 recorded geological relics, including caves, sinkholes and stone spires – testaments to its volatile subterranean world.

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