NANJING - Two rail lines entered operation in East China's Jiangsu province Monday, bringing relatively underdeveloped northern Jiangsu into the country's fast-developing high-speed rail network for the first time.

The Xuzhou-Yancheng high-speed railway, with a length of 313 kilometers, has a designed speed of 250 kph.

A section of the 108-km Lianyungang-Zhenjiang high-speed railway, which connects Lianyungang with Huai'an, also went into operation Monday.

Huai'an is the intersection of the Xuzhou-Yancheng high-speed rail line and the Lianyungang-Zhenjiang high-speed railway.

The opening of the new railroads marks the interconnection of five prefecture-level cities in northern Jiangsu - Xuzhou, Suqian, Huai'an, Yancheng and Lianyungang - by high-speed railway.

With more sections to be launched next year, the new rail services will help ease the transportation pressure of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway and aid people in relatively less developed northern Jiangsu in shaking off poverty.