China is gearing up for the opening of a series of high-speed
railways throughout the country as it expands the infrastructure
and trains drivers to speed up the service.
Vice-Minister of Railways Hu Yadong told reporters on Sunday
that express trains with a speed of 200 kilometres per hour are
expected to start running next year, while those with a speed of
300 kilometres an hour will be used on parts of the nation's
railway lines.
Such an ambitious plan is supported by the introduction of 60
high-speed railways from the Germany-based Siemens Transportation
Systems of Siemens AG. A contract worth 669 million Euros (US$785
million) was signed in Berlin during a state visit to Germany by
President Hu Jintao a week ago.
The trains are to be used initially on the Beijing-Tianjin route
beginning 2008 and extended to other high-speed routes later on,
according to a press release on the website of the German
company.
The trains have a total length of 200 metres and can hold more
than 600 passengers.
Insiders consider the agreement as an initial victory for the
German company's attempted dominance over its French rival Alstone
and Japan's Shinkansen in competing for the vast rail market.
According to the ministry's programme, China will build 10,000
kilometres of new passenger railways and 2,000 kilometres of
high-speed railways by 2020.
Although the ministry is slow in unveiling the construction plan
of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, competition for the
huge project is becoming increasingly intense among Japan's
Shinkansen, France's TGV and Germany's ICE - high-speed trains
considered to have the most advanced high-speed rail technology
available in the world.
The railway, reported to measure more than 1,300 kilometres in
length, involves a 100 billion-yuan (US$12 billion) investment,
seen as the second largest project after the Three Gorges Project
in terms of investment.
While building more rail tracks and trains, the Ministry of
Railways has also sent technicians abroad to study driving
techniques for high-speed trains, in efforts to increase their
speed for the sixth time.
Sixty-two train drivers aged 28 to 41 have been selected from
among the seven local rail administrations.
The nation's latest railway speed increase was launched on April
18 last year, with the speed on major lines raised to 160
kilometres per hour.
(China Daily November 22, 2005)