Construction of a light railway started on December 25 in Wuhan, making the capital of Hubei Province in central China the fifth city of the country that will have a light railway system after Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The first phase of the light railway line, 27.43 km long, will cost 1.7 billion yuan and is scheduled to be completed in four years.

The railway is expected to carry 380,000 passengers per day at the initial stage and the number will climb to 915,000 with the completion of the second phase. The new line will play an important role in easing the city's already burdened transportation system as an estimated one billion people use the city's road systems every year.

Situated in the eastern part of Hubei Province and at the confluence of the Yangtze River and Hanjiang River, Wuhan, known as "Thoroughfare of Nine Provinces" in history, is divided by the two rivers into three parts -- Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang.