INTRODUCTION of Chinese Railways’ new timetable on April 18 saw the launch of the fifth national speed increase, bringing the total route length cleared for 160 km/h operation to 7700 km.
The new timetable sees CR’s fastest Beijing - Shanghai journey time cut from 14h to 11h 58min, and the number of expresses on the route increased from three to eight in each direction. In total, 19 pairs of expresses have been introduced to provide non-stop services from the capital to major cities including Nanjing, Hangzhou, Harbin, Changchun, Wuhan and Xian.
Work is expected to start this year on a dedicated passenger railway between Beijing and Tianjin, at a cost of 10bn yuan. Relieving the existing trunk route, it will form part of the 12000 km of passenger lines which will be added to the CR network by 2020, under the master plan unveiled by the Ministry of Railways in February (RG 4.04 p189). Other elements in the plan include double-tracking of 13000 km and electrification of 16000 km.
This year, CR is due to start work on 895 km of new line, and put a further 1680 km into service. Another 290 km of double track and 559 km of electrification are to be completed this year. Trial operations began in February on the 306 km Jiaozhou - Xinyi line, and the 110 km Nanjing - Yangzhou line was formally opened on April 18. Electrification work on the Jinan - Qingdao line began in February for completion in 2006.
