Firmly on the fast track

摘要

Barely six months after the Chinese government announced its target of developing an 'eight by eight' grid of trunk lines as the backbone of the national rail : network, new plans have been unveiled : to expand the grid to 10-by-10. On March 1 the State Council formally issued the country's 13th five-year transport plan, covering the period from 2016 to 2020. This envisages the investment of no less than 3·5tr yuan in expanding the national rail network, completing a portfolio of Passenger-Dedicated Lines and conventional mixed-traffic railways that are currently under construction, and starting work on a range of new ones. Funding has also been allocated for more upgrading work to increase capacity on existing routes, notably through further double-tracking and electrification.