Trains on five trunk railway routes are expected to increase their speed to between 120 and 140 kilometres per hour later this year in the country's fourth nationwide increase of train speeds, according to the Ministry of Railways.

The ministry said on Monday that months of high-speed trial operations along the five routes beginning early this year are going through the final phase and will be completed by the end of the month.

China had already increased its train speeds only last October.

Trains are the most important means of long-distance transportation in China, carrying most of the passengers and cargo in the country.

The number of passengers on the upcoming National Day (October 1) alone is expected to reach an unprecedented 4 million.

The five routes being upgraded are Beijing to Kowloon in Hong Kong; Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, to Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province; Wuhan to Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province; Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, to Zhuzhou in Central China's Hunan Province; and Harbin in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province to Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The combined length of these five routes is 6,713 kilometres.

By the end of October, a trip by train travelling 2,372 kilometres from Beijing to Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province along the Beijing-Kowloon Railway will take less than 24 hours, compared with the current 30 hours.

During the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05), the Ministry of Railways will launch another two nationwide speed-ups, one in 2003 and the second in 2005, according to a schedule released by the ministry.

The schedule also indicates that a total of 28 railway routes, adding up to more than 20,000 kilometres, will be upgraded during the three nationwide speed-ups over the next five years, thus being able to handle trains travelling at speeds between 120 to 140 kilometres per hour.

Passengers from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will have easy access to any part of the country with the fast railway network in 2005, an official from the railway ministry said, noting that the faster railway network will help increase railway departments' revenues by attracting more passengers.

During the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), the country raised train speeds three times, the total length of rail lines involved reaching nearly 10,000 kilometres.

Railways used to be the biggest monopoly in long-distance transport. In recent years, however, some of its former clients have been lured away to the airways and highways. The ministry hopes to keep its share of the trade by increasing train speeds and upgrading services.

(Chinadaily09/25/2001)