Railway lines are the arteries of economic development and in a country as vast as China, form the main part of the transport system. The opening of a new major rail line and implementation of high-speed trains is always something that delights the Chinese people. Now, amid a worldwide economic recession, the railway sector is emerging as the catalyst to spark a wave of economic confidence.
The latest data from the Ministry of Railways showed that from January to April, investment in railway construction totaled 103.23 billion yuan ($15.1 billion), rising a whopping 170.5 percent year on year. The unprecedented railway investment boom is a result of the government's 4-trillion-yuan ($586-billion) stimulus package released last November. Among the 230 billion yuan ($33.7 billion) already allocated by the Central Government, the railway sector gained the lion's share of 13 percent, or 30 billion yuan ($4.4 billion).
The Ministry of Railways has planned to invest 600 billion yuan ($87.6 billion) annually in 2009 and 2010, almost double that of last year. It's estimated that this year's capital spending on railways would eventually boost GDP growth by 1.5 percentage points and create 6 million jobs.
The country's railway system has been completed and improved from a fragmented and underdeveloped one since the New China was founded 60 years ago. During the past six decades, especially the later half when the policy of reform and opening up was launched, railway construction has been in full swing along with economic development. However, it still lags behind in investment and technological advances due to system limitations.
Statistics show that, from 1978 to 2007, our country's GDP rose 67.5 times, the length of road grew 3 times, and civil airlines rose by 14.7 times, while the total length of railways in operation only increased 50 percent from 51,700 km to 78,000 km.
Railway construction can't meet the requirements of the fast-growing economy and has even become one of the bottlenecks restricting economic development.
Railway capacity in both passenger and freight traffic is falling short of demand. During the annual Spring Festival travel peak, it's common to see masses of people queuing at big city railway stations or ticket offices trying to get a ticket back to their hometowns. Many of them cannot be catered for. In freight traffic, transport of coal makes up more than one third. But Shanxi Province, the major coal producer, says that railway capacity can only meet about 50 percent of its transportation needs.
Fortunately, the Mid- and Long-term Development Plan of China Railway Network has already addressed the challenges that face the railway system and set the goals for its future development. The total length of railways in operation is expected to reach 120,000 km by 2020 and 16,000-km passenger railways will be built, linking all provincial capitals and major cities.
The investment spree in railways is timely. It will do much to ease the railway bottleneck and ensure smoother transportation for people and cargo in the coming decade. |