China to Lift Railway Speed Again in OctoberOctober 2001 will see China once again lift its railway speed on a large scale. This will be the fourth time to do so on the basis of the first three carried out during the 9th Five-year Plan period (1996-2000).There will be three train speed-elevations 2001-05, in 2001, 2003, 2005 respectively to form a high-speed passenger transport network covering the whole nation, according to a railway official. By now China has created a speed-raising network extending a total length of nearly 10,000 km, of which four lines are vertical: Beijing-Harbin, Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Guangzhou and Beijing-Kowloon, and two horizontal: Lanzhou-Liangyungang-Wuwei-Urumqi and Hangzhou-Zhuzhou. During the 10th Five-year Plan period the speed lifting will cover 28 lines with a total mileage of 20,000 km to form three circles centered at Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Cities within a radius of 500 km will achieve the goal of "starting at dawn and arriving at dusk", those within 1200-1500 km "starting in the evening and arriving in the morning" and 2000-2500 km "arrival in one day". Speed-raising this October will cover the following lines: Beijing-Guangzhou (southern section): the travelling time from Wuchang to Guangzhou will be cut from the current 11 hours 59 minutes to 10 hours 18 minutes. Beijing-Kowloon: Beijing West to Shenzhen, from 29 hours 49 minutes to 23 hours 58 minutes; Beijing West to Nanchang, from 16 hours to 14 hours. Wuchang-Chengdu and Chongqing: Hankou to Chongqing, from 22 hours 12 minutes to 14 hours and 29 minutes; Wuchang to Chengdu, from 22 hours 6 minutes to 16 hours 30 minutes; Hangzhou-Zhuzhou, from 13 hours 29 minutes to 11 hours 50 minutes. Dalian-Harbin: from 12 hours 46 minutes to 9 hours 25 minutes. By PD Online Staff Li Heng |
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