China has started construction of 16 new express passenger rail
projects and is set to have 12,000 kilometers of express rail lines
by 2020, the Ministry of Railways said yesterday.
New express rail lines will link provincial capitals and large
and medium-sized cities, as well as cities in the booming Bohai
Sea, Yangtze and Pearl River regions.
The construction of the lines aims to substantially enhance the
country's rail transport capacities, as stated in the country's mid
and long-term plan on railway networks.
The 115-kilometer express rail line connecting Beijing and
Tianjin would become the country's first to allow a maximum speed
of 300 kilometers per hour. Track laying on the route started a few
days ago.
The line will be operationally ready in time for the 2008
Olympic Games in August, and will shorten the journey between
Tianjin and Beijing from 70 minutes at present to around 30
minutes, said Liu Rong, director of the railway construction
project.
China's State Council has also approved the feasibility report
on the planned 1,318 km high-speed railway linking Shanghai and
Beijing after nearly 10 years of preparations. The project, if
completed, will be the longest high-speed rail line in the
world.
The Beijing-Shanghai express railway is expected to cut travel
time between the two cities from around 10 hours at present to
about five hours.
China's fastest domestic trains currently run at a speed of up
to 250 kilometers per hour.
(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2007)