Plans are in place to construct more than 800 kilometres of railway in China's urban centres by 2010, most of which will be built underground.

This was announced yesterday by Zhu Jun, director of the railway division of State-owned China International Engineering Consulting Corporation.

A group of medium-sized cities have had their metro-rail projects approved by the State Council - China's cabinet - and are preparing to start construction in a few years, said Zhu.

The approvals come at a time when some experts are questioning the need for all these underground rails.

A senior railway official pointed out that Chinese cities around the country need to develop diversified urban rail networks so as to save money and energy.

Many cities around the country have been "ambitiously" planning or building uniform underground railways since the late 1990s, said Zhou Yimin, a chief official with the consultancy group under the Ministry of Railways.

"In some cases it is a waste," noted Zhou.

Urban railway networks have proven to be effective tools to ease urban transport congestion and boost local economies.

But different cities and various areas of a metropolis need to choose an appropriate type of railway suited to local transport demand and development strategies.

This does not necessarily mean "luxurious" underground railways, according to Zhou.

Zhou's remarks were made on Tuesday at a forum on the development of the country's urban rail networks, part of the ongoing Metro Shanghai Exhibition 2002. He was a rare official voice speaking against the country's current underground (metro) railway craze.

Ten cities around the country are building 15 metro lines right now, but only one light rail.

These railways, with a total length of 383 kilometres, are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2005, according to the ministry.

The underground vehicles, which run 30 to 40 kilometres faster per hour, and at a higher frequency than light-rail trains, naturally use much more energy, according to sources with the China International Engineering Consulting Corporation.

Underground railway systems are proper and necessary for the bustling downtown areas of metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, said Zhou. But in some scenic coastal cities, medium-sized cities and big-city suburbs, light-transit systems may be more economical, said Zhou.

He warned that the current expansion of underground railway in China may be excessive.

A subway is on average 15 to 25 kilometres long in order to ensure a sufficient transport demand, said Zhou, adding that some Chinese cities are planning to expand their current metro lines to over 40 kilometres each.

By the end of last year, China had a total of 143.4 kilometres of metro line in operation in the four big cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and South China's Guangzhou.

(China Daily September 5, 2002)