The line has a total length of 1,462 km (908 mi) and connects the municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, as well as the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu.

It is commonly referred to as the Jinghu railway, taking on the abbreviated names of the two terminal cities.

In Chinese, Jing means "capital" and refers to Beijing, and Hu is the abbreviated name for Shanghai.

The first section is from Beijing to Tianjin, constructed as part of the Imperial Railways of Northern China between 1897 and 1900.

After the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was completed in 1968, these three sections were linked together and renamed as a single Beijing–Shanghai or Jinghu railway.