China gears up for high-speed rail plan
(CNN/China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-22 15:22

The Nikkei said the train deal was not a sure thing.

Vice-Minister of Railways Hu Yadong was quoted by China Daily as saying on Sunday that express trains with a speed of 200 kilometres per hour are expected to start running next year, while those with a speed of 300 kilometres an hour will be used on parts of the nation's railway lines.

China Star, the country's first high-speed bullet train, have been put into commercial run between northeast city of Shenyang and Shanhaiguan in August 2005. [newsphoto/file]

According to the ministry's programme, China will build 10,000 kilometres of new passenger railways and 2,000 kilometres of high-speed railways by 2020.

Although the ministry is slow in unveiling the construction plan of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, competition for the huge project is becoming increasingly intense among Japan's Shinkansen, France's TGV and Germany's ICE - high-speed trains considered to have the most advanced high-speed rail technology available in the world.

The railway, reported to measure more than 1,300 kilometres in length, involves a 100 billion-yuan (US$ 12 billion) investment, seen as the second largest project after the Three Gorges Project in terms of investment.

While building more rail tracks and trains, the Ministry of Railways has also sent technicians abroad to study driving techniques for high-speed trains, in efforts to increase their speed for the sixth time.

Sixty-two train drivers aged 28 to 41 have been selected from among the seven local rail administrations.

The nation's latest railway speed increase was launched on April 18 last year, with the speed on major lines raised to 160 kilometres per hour.