Transportation Development On Track

11/12/2017

​chinaurbanisationnews

It might seem like there’s more news about electric cars lately than actual electric vehicles on the road. China recently has some interesting movements about that.

High-speed railway train from Chongqing to Lanzhou. (image: Chinadaily)

Go West

After the Beijing-Shanghai line and Beijing-Guangzhou line, China has seen its third major transportation line completed recently. Started in 2008, this 886-kilometer long railway connects Chongqing in Southwestern China with Lanzhou, the capital city of the northwestern province of Gansu.
 
It cuts the distance between the two cities by about 650 kilometers and travel time from 20 to 13 hours. Designed for 160 kilometers per hour with some sections at 200 km/h, it is expected to boost the economy in less developed inland China together with the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt plan.

The rail line is considered as an impressive engineering feat against geographic complexities. 226 tunnels and 396 bridges have been built, passing through numerous mountains and rivers. It is projected to transport 50 million tons of cargo every year and operate 50 passenger round-trips every day.

Hangzhou's railway connections with the yellow representing lines to be built, blue for lines under construction and black for existing lines. (image: share.gmw.cn)

Yangtze River Delta

Hangzhou is to transform itself into a city of high-speed railways, with 7 more high-speed rail lines and 3 more such rail stations planned, according to the Hangzhou Railway Hub Planning (2016-2030) recently approved by the Hangzhou government.

Its new high-speed rail connection to Shanghai, Nanjing and Hefei will cut travelling hours by half and enhance its status along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, while its newly added link to Wuhan and Nanchang, which lead to cities like Xi'an, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, will give it a role to play along the One Belt and One Road routes. 

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Medium-and long-term high-speed railway network expansion plan by the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China. (image: NDRC)

National Rail Network Expansion Initiative

The above are responsive to the central government's medium- and long-term plan to expand the railway network, which outlines the goal to build 175,000 kilometers of railways, among which high-speed railways total 38,000 kilometers, by 2025. According to data from the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China, China built 121,000 kilometers of railways among which was 19,000 kilometers' high-speed rails.[1] In the long term, it aims to achieve full connectivity across the whole country by 2030.

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Connectivity with Western Guangdong.(image: hkmb.hktdc.com)

Pearl River Delta

Apart from rail connections, other transportation services are also under way. Shuttle bus services are to be operated on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB). The services will run between the three border checkpoints of the HZMB; namely, Macau, Zhuhai and Hong Kong.

​In particular, two kinds of shuttle bus services will be provided. One line will serve passengers between the Hong Kong and Zhuhai checkpoints, while the other will transport passengers from the Hong Kong and Macau cross-border facilities.

This project is currently run by Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Land Transportation (Macau) Corp., Zhuhai Yuegong Xinhai Transportation Co, and Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge Shuttle Bus Services. According to previous information provided by the local Transport Bureau (DSAT), the operator will be required to provide from 90 to 140 shuttle buses for daily operation, with some 30 vehicles reserved for backup.

The tender, launched on June 15, was jointly organised by the traffic departments of the three areas linked by the superbridge, in addition to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Trans-boundary Traffic Policy Co-ordination Group.

Image: BWPI

Further information at HZ.house, Cityofzhuhai, China Daily and ndrc.gov

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