Twelve new railway lines will be built in the next five years in Yunnan Province.

The new lines are expected to cost as much as 80 billion yuan (US$9.7 billion).

The funding will come from the Ministry of Railway and the Yunnan provincial government, said Wang Minzheng, vice-director of the Yunnan Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

He made the remarks on Wednesday at the inauguration ceremony of the new railway station in Kunming, capital of this southwest China province.

The 12 railway lines include a line connecting Dali and Shangrila, the line from Yuxi to Hekou and the line connecting Yuxi and Mohan.

After completion, the total length of railways in operation in Yunnan will reach 3,750 kilometres by 2020, the official predicted.

The length will top 5,000 kilometers by 2050.

"A more efficient railway system will be built to connect Yunnan and inland China, as well as China and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries."

On Wednesday, the 430 million yuan (US$52 million) expansion project of the Kunming Railway Station was completed.

The new station will be put into use on Saturday, the first day of the new year.

The 27,000-square-meter station can handle 70,000 passengers per day.

(China Daily December 31, 2004)