Chinese workers have started to lay rails on the last part of a double track of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway, one of the major north-south trunk lines in China.

The Longchuan-Dongguan section of the double track, with a fulllength of 220 km, began construction in March 2001. The project isexpected to cost 2.698 billion yuan (about US$ 325 million) and will be finished by October 22.

This section of the double track will be ready for service by mid-December.

Beijing-Kowloon Railway connects China's capital city to Kowloon in Hong Kong. The single line of the railway was put into operation in 1996, but the drastic surge in the number of passengers and freight transported on the trunk line has made construction of a double track a necessity.

( People's Daily April 9, 2002)