China's Operational Railway Length Tops AsiaStatistics from Ministry of Railway show that from 1996 to the first half of 2000, a total investment of 206.8 billion Yuan have been injected for the railway construction. The operational railway length reaches 67,394 kilometers, increased by 7,744 kilometers compared with the 8th Five-Year Plan period, ranking the first in Asia.In the 9th Five-Year Plan period, new technology, new equipment, and new material were widely used to build new line and some digital equipment was introduced. This played a significant role in the construction. Now railways in plateau mountain area of the complicated geological condition could be built. In our country's longest tunnel construction of Qinling Mountains, TBM digging machine was adopted for the first time, the tunnel digging technology seeing new development. New high-speed locomotives and coaches are manufactured and the speed of the whole country's train were successfully promoted for three times. The average speed of the country's trains has reached 160 kilometer per hour, with the highest speed 240 kilometer per hour |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |