823.5 Billion Railway Investment Direction: Building New Lines And Carrying Out Electrification Transformation

Zhengzhou Xi'an high-speed railway, the first high-speed railway in central and western China, has been put into operation. The picture shows the home-made "Harmony" EMU train numbered G2004 with a speed of 350km/h departing from Xi'an Railway Station.

In the first five months of this year, the investment in fixed assets of national railways reached 199.676 billion yuan, up 18.2% year on year. China has entered the peak period of large-scale railway construction, the peak period of a large number of new lines being put into operation, and the peak period of new technology and equipment manufacturing and application.

In 2010, China's railway arranged 823.5 billion yuan of fixed asset investment, including 700 billion yuan of capital construction investment. Where will this huge investment go? What improvement will it bring to railway transportation?

　 Transportation capacity improvement

The investment in railway fixed assets is mainly used for the construction of new lines, the laying of double tracks, the electrification of existing railways, and the purchase of railway vehicles and other transportation equipment.

Wang Yongping, spokesman of the Ministry of Railways, said that by the end of this year, 4613 kilometers of new railways will be put into operation in China, and 3438 kilometers of double tracks will be put into operation, increasing the operating mileage of China's railways by 8%. Among them, 1669 kilometers of passenger dedicated lines will be added this year, which means that by the end of this year, China's high-speed railway mileage will be close to 4000 kilometers, and the transportation capacity will be increased by another 70%. The railway transportation with high density, high speed, large capacity and low energy consumption will redefine the travel radius of people and the regional economic landscape.

This year, 3690 kilometers of new lines and 3150 kilometers of double track are planned to be paved on national railways. The construction task is quite arduous. At present, Beijing Shijiazhuang, Shanghai Hangzhou, Nanjing Hangzhou, Hangzhou Ningbo, Nanjing Anqing, Xi'an Baoji and other passenger dedicated lines, as well as Guiyang Guangzhou, Nanning Guangzhou and other inter regional corridor projects are accelerating.

With the increase of investment and construction, 6401 kilometers of electrified railways will be added this year. This means that on the existing railway lines, electric locomotives can replace diesel locomotives, and trains will run faster, transport more, consume less energy, and emit less.

　 Road network density increases greatly

"More than half of the railway investment under construction is used to increase the density of the road network in the central and western regions," said Yang Zhongmin, director of the Development Planning Department of the Ministry of Railways. The 12 provinces, autonomous regions and cities in western China account for 71.5% of China's land area, concentrating more than 50% of China's coal reserves and more than 81% of China's natural gas reserves, but the railway capacity to enter and exit the western region is very tight.

If the situation of blocked railways in the central region is not changed, not only the goal of the rise of the central region will be difficult to achieve, but also the passenger and freight transport between the east and west, north and south of China will be blocked. "The construction of the railway corridor has been accelerated to ensure the smooth implementation of the western development strategy," Yang Zhongmin said.

Taking Xinjiang as an example, in 2010, the investment in railway construction in Xinjiang was 19.34 billion yuan, and there were as many as 15 projects under construction, which broke two historical records of railway construction and investment scale in Xinjiang, of which the investment scale quadrupled compared with 2008. According to the current investment and construction progress, it is estimated that by 2020, the operating mileage of Xinjiang railway will increase from the current 3000 km to about 7000 km, and the electrified railway will grow from scratch to 1500 km.

It is estimated that the railway operation mileage in western China will reach 2800km this year. By the end of 2012, including passenger dedicated lines and inter regional trunk lines, 12000 kilometers of railways will be put into operation in the western region, and the operating mileage will reach more than 40000 kilometers, doubling the density of the road network.

　　 Equipment condition improvement

With the large-scale railway construction, China's railways will also enter the peak period of new technology and equipment manufacturing and application. It is reported that new technical equipment such as high-speed EMUs, high-power locomotives and large track maintenance machinery will also enter the cycle of intensive production and application this year.

In the first five months of this year, an investment of 20.746 billion yuan was completed in the purchase of railway locomotives, including 18.209 billion yuan for the purchase of multiple units, high-power AC drive locomotive localization projects, and large-scale road maintenance machinery. The localization project delivered 577 locomotives, 71 multiple units, 25 sets of large road maintenance machinery, and purchased 554 passenger cars and 3575 freight cars.

By purchasing and operating new passenger transport vehicles, the railway passenger transport hardware conditions will be greatly improved. It is reported that from 2010 to 2012, more than 800 EMUs will be put into use in China, and the air-conditioned passenger cars will account for more than 66% of the population. Among them are the new generation of domestic high-speed trains that have been off the line and delivered for operation test this year, with the operating speed up to 380km/h. "The mass procurement of the new generation of domestic railway equipment by the state not only improves the quality of railway passenger transport service, but also provides the greatest support for the independent innovation of a number of core technologies of equipment manufacturing industry represented by high-speed bullet trains," said the relevant person in charge of CSR.

By 2012, the number of high-power locomotives in operation in China will reach more than 7900. This year, by increasing the number of 20000 ton heavy haul trains, the Datong Qinhuangdao Railway is expected to set a new world record of 400 million ton annual traffic volume; By increasing the number of 5500 ton heavy haul trains, Houyue Line is also expected to achieve an annual traffic volume of 170 million tons, which is expected to further ease the tension of coal, electricity and oil transportation in China.