CREC is the main force of China's railway construction. The Company has built many truck railways, which include Chengdu-Chongqing railway (China's first railway after liberation), Baoji-Chengdu Railway (China's first electrified railway), Baotou-Lanzhou Railway (China's first desert railway), Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Railway (China's first double electrified railway), Beijing-Kowloon Railway (China's longest railway in double tracks), Qinhuangdao-Shenyang High-Speed Railway (China's first high-speed passenger dedicated line), Qinghai-Tibet Railway (the world's first plateau railway), Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway (China's first electrified railway with the speed of 200km per hour), Central and Southern Shanxi Railway (the world's first modern heavy haul railway). With a total length of more than 90,000 kilometers, these trunk railways account for 2/3 of China's total railway mileages, and account for 90% of China's total electrified railway mileages.

CREC is the major driving force of China's high-speed rail construction. The Company has built lots of high-speed rails, which account for 55% of China's total high-speed rail mileages. On August 1, 2008, Beijing-Tianjin Intercity High-Speed Railway was opened as China's first high-speed rail; on December 26, 2009, Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway was opened to traffic as the world's first passenger dedicated line with the speed of 350km per hour; on June 30, 2011, Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Rail was put into operation as China's longest high-speed railway; on December 1, 2012, Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Railway was opened to traffic as the world's longest high-speed passenger dedicated line passing through mountainous areas; on December 26, 2012, Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Rail was put into operation as the world's high-speed railway with the longest mileages; on December 26, 2014, Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Rail was opened to traffic as the world's first high-speed plateau railway.