South China's Guangdong Province plans to double its railway length by 2020 to reach 4,000 kilometers to boost its economic development, according to provincial development planning authorities.

The province will invest 139 billion yuan (US$17.8 billion) to build ten railway lines linking to other provinces or regions by 2020, said sources with a provincial development and reform conference held on Tuesday.

Guangdong currently has a railway length of 1,883 kilometers, accounting for 2.5 percent of the country's total. The railway length of the province will cover 4 percent of China's total by 2020.

The province is also accelerating intercity express transit construction along the Pearl River Delta, one of the country's booming development areas, according to the meeting.

Six railway construction projects have started this year with an investment of 9.5 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in Guangdong.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2006)