Rail
Speed to Increase in October
|
China to accelerate the speed of
its railways.
|
The Railway Ministry is to accelerate
rail speed in October this year, and again in the year 2005.
This will involve seven routes, most particularly the express
passenger train route between Beijing and Shenyang; the Zhejiang-Jiangxi
Railway; the northern section of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway;
and the railway passage through southwestern China. Also in
2005, multiple tracks are to be built along the Baoji-Lanzhou
Wuwei Railway, and electrical renovation carried out on the
Xuzhou-Zhengzhou and Wuwei-Zhangye railways. A further seven
railways will be constructed, including one connecting Chongqing
and Huaihua. The increase in rail speed means that train passengers
will be able to depart from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou
in the morning and arrive in cities within a 500-kilometer radius
the same evening. Cities within a 1,200 to 1,500-kilometer radius
may be reached on taking a train that departs in the evening
and arrives the next morning. The travel time on trains to cities
within 2,000 to 2,500 kilometers from the three metropolises
will be shortened to one day. By the end of 2002 China's total
length of railways in operation amounted to 71,500 kilometers,
of which 13,000 kilometers, or 18.18 percent, had increased
the speed of their locomotives.
