(File photo)
According to Economic Information Daily, China Railway Corporation plans to starts 45 new railway projects in 2016, including a passenger special line from Guiyang to Nanning, a passenger special line from Zhongwei to Lanzhou, a passenger special line from Xuzhou to Lianyungang. The total length of the new lines is over 3,200 kilometers, of which over 1,300 kilometers are high-speed rail. China's investment in railway will likely hit a new high.
In 2015, China invested 823.8 billion yuan on railways. Investment was made in 9,531 kilometers of new lines, of which 3,306 kilometers were high-speed rail. By the end of 2015, the network length in China reached 121,000 kilometers and the length of high-speed rail in operation was over 19,000 kilometers, accounting for 60 percent of the world's total.
Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai recently emphasized that as this year is the first year of the 13th Five-Years Plan, related departments must work hard to guarantee the completion of 800 billion yuan of investment in railway.
Wang Mengshu, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that if the projects are in smooth progress, realizing investment of 800 billion yuan will not be a problem and we may even beat the goal.
