Railway Connects Hainan Island with Guangdong ProvinceThe Guangdong-Hainan Railway linking Hainan Island and the Guangdong province in south China, began laying down the tracks Friday morning.With a length of 568.3 km, the railway starts from Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province, running through Leizhou Peninsula and terminating at Hai'an Harbor. At Chahe Harbor on the other side of Qiongzhou Straits, a connecting railway line runs direct to Sanya City in Hainan Province. With an investment of 4.5 billion yuan (about 542 million U.S. dollars), the railway is one of key railway-construction projects of the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000). The construction of the railway started in August 1998 and will be completed next year. According to officials from the railway administration, trial transport on the railway will start in October next year. The railway will officially open in 2002. |
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