With a vast railway network providing transport for billions of passengers and taking over a significant share of imports and exports, China continues the constant development strategy of this transport system, by building new railways and launching new national, international and regional transport services. In 2017, the authorities plan to expand the railway infrastructure. Also, a new document strengthens the idea of market opening based on competitiveness, uniformity and equity.
With a network of 124,000 km of railways, of which 22,000 km of high-speed railways, every year, China plans to increase rail infrastructure investments. At the moment, China’s high-speed network accounts for 65% of the global network. Last year, China commissioned 4 high-speed railways: Chongquing-Wanzhou (the first high-speed connection to Three Gorges region, Yangtze River area), Kunming-Guiyang (completes the connection between Shanghai and Kunming), Kunming-Baise Railway (completes the connection between Kunming and Guangzhou), Zhengzhou-Xuzhou (connects China’s centre to the east). The latest railway link, Kunming-Shanghai, is the longest HSR on the east-west axis with a length of 2,252 km.
In 2017, the infrastructure is once again China’s economic engine, a sector estimated to grow by 20%, generator of a market of over USD 2 trillions. After the commissioning of the new railways in 2016, China’s State Council announced that 2017 projects included the construction of another 2,100 km of railways, 2,500 km of double railways and 4,000 km of electrified railways. For 2017, the state-owned company, China Railway (CRC) received a budget of CNY 800 billion (USD 116,3 billion) for the extension of the network and transport services.
By 2020, objectives include a network of 150,000 km of railways, of which 30,000 km will be HSR. Also, by 2030, according to the development strategy, China will have a railway network of 200,000 km, of which 45,000 km will be high-speed railways. The 2020 railway transport development strategy includes investments of CNY 3.5 trillion (USD 508.7 billion). Under the plans, by 2020, China will establish a high-speed network to connect 80% of big cities.
In November 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved the construction of another 5 railways with a total length of 1,287 km, the investment necessary being of over USD 27 billion. The high-speed railways to be built are Zhangjiajie – Jishou – Huaihua (246 km), Mudanjiang – Jiamusi (375 km), Ganzhou – Shenzhen (432 km, 14 stations), Beijing – > > Tangshan (148.7 km) and Shenmu North (Hongliulin) – Fengjiachun (84 km). In the same month, NDRC also approved the intercity infrastructure development projects in Beijing Region and adjacent cities to Tianjin. With an investment volume of USD 35.7 billion, the programme includes the construction of eight railways with a total length of 1,104 km to form railway links between all regional cities and smaller cities. Called the ”Jing-Jin-Ji plan”, the project is implemented by CRC and, after its completion, in 2020, it will contribute to the development of a metropolitan network between Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, which currently has 110 million residents.
This year, China Railway Corp announced that the railways will ensure the transport of 3 billion passengers, more than in 2016, when railways accounted for 2,7 billion journeys, of which 52% was high-speed transport (or 1.44 billion journeys), declared Lu Dongfu, CRC Executive Director.
Opening the freight transport market
China’s freight and logistics sector is also developing, new national rail services are being launched, but also international services, mostly in Europe. It is important to mention that the number of trains between Europe and China increased significantly: in 2016, freight was shipped in 1,702 trains, 109% more than in 2015, according to the official web site of China’s State Council.
Also, Manzhouli, China’s biggest land port, providing 60% of total imports and exports from Eastern Europe, experienced an increase in the number of trains, mainly due to the Belt and Road Initiative. Last year, 1,036 cross-border trains transited the port, 88% more than before. Manzhouli is in the north of China Inner Mongolia autonomous region, bordering Russia (to the north) and Mongolia (to the west).
According to a development strategy of the National Development and Reform Commission, by 2020, the number of trains on Europe-China axis will be of 5,000/year, a key component of this objective being the Belt and Road Initiative through which there will be several direct trains to provide connection between the important cities of Europe and China.
At the moment, China has three important railway routes to Europe: the western route, crossing the Alataw Pass (bordering Kazakhstan), a central route, through Erenhot to Mongolia and through Manzhouli, in the north-east to Russia. Many European cities have railway connections with China, such as Hamburg, Lyon, Madrid, London, etc. These services have also developed since the launch of the Belt and Road initiative (2013).
The development plan shows that the rail freight services system will include three routes: the eastern route, the central route and the western route, that will connect not only the two pats, but also Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. 43 transport hubs and 43 railway lines will be built along these routes.
A project which will contribute to the development of the freight transport and logistics, while significantly reducing road congestion and increasing rail transport share is a circular elaborated by 18 governmental agencies and the Chinese Ministry of Transport. According to this document, qualified freight companies, especially rail companies, but also road, waterways (maritime) and air transport can execute multimodal transport operations. Services can be individual (per mode of transport) or multimodal, connecting different modes of transport and could also be established through partnerships between companies. The circular stipulates that no additional administrative approval measures will not be required to companies that carry out such operations. In fact, China plans to open its multimodal transport market based on principles of uniformity, transparency and equity. The plan stipulates that, for transport on long and medium-term distances, there should be created conditions for shifting road traffic to railways, waterways and other sustainable modes. “This is a strong reform signal from the government to encourage development of multimodal transport system,” said Wang Shuiping, a senior official of the Ministry of Transport.
by Pamela Luica
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