Construction of the Chengdu-Lanzhou railway to link Sichuan and Gansu provinces got under way on Saturday.

Scheduled for completion in December 2014, the 731-km line will cost almost 62 billion yuan ($9 billion) to build, and once completed will cut the journey time between the two cities from more than 17 hours to about four.

It is hoped the line will also boost economic development in Northwest and Southwest China, and provide a shot in the arm for tourism in northwest Sichuan and south Gansu province.

The line will link with the Lanzhou-Chongqing, Baoji-Chengdu, Sichuan-Qinghai and Sichuan-Tibetan lines, construction of which will also start this year.

Jiang Jufeng, governor of Sichuan, said the line will improve transport options between Northwest and Southwest China, with Lanzhou serving as a link between Southwest China and the economic belt along the Eurasia Bridge and the Central Asian Railway.

The new line will travel through Jiuzhaigou in northwest Sichuan and the Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in southern Gansu.

Jiuzhaigou is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site and Gannan is also a popular tourist destination.

More than 60 percent of the passengers on the new route, between 250,000 and 280,000 a year, will be tourists, the Ministry of Railways said.

Three sections of the new line will pass the Minshan Mountains, which are home to giant pandas and other endangered animals and plants.

The construction team will build tunnels in the mountains and bridges so as not to disturb the wildlife. More than 90 percent of the three sections will be tunnels and bridges, the China Railway No 2 Engineering Group Co Ltd said.

Zhang Hemin, head of the Wolong Nature Reserve Administration Bureau, said the new line will have minimal impact on pandas.

(China Daily February 24, 2009)