The upcoming eight projects will shorten tour time among cities of Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) and bring new vigor into this area, says Wu Junguang, director of GuangDong Railway Group CO.,LTD.

Wu says that Guangzhou will start 8 railway projects, say Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway, Guangzhou -Shenzhen railway, Zhongshan-Jiangmen railway, Xiaolan-Humen, and Wuhan-Guangzhou railway, a section of a new Beijing-Guangzhou railway.

The 8 projects blueprinted by Zhang Dejiang, General Secretary of CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, has undergone scientific research and gained support from the Minister of Railways.

The construction of 105-km Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway, with a budget hitting 18.2 billion yuan, will be co-funded by China's Railways Ministry and Guangdong Province and finished by 2007.

Three high-speed railways connecting Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Zhongshan and Jiangmen, and Xiaolan and Humen will be completed by 2010.

According to the plan, the 971-km Wuhan-Guangzhou railway section will be designed to allow trains traveling at 250 to 300 kilometers per hour. Traveling time could be reduced from the current 10 hours to 4 hours after it opens in 2010.

By 2020, Guangdong's railway network will have a total length of more than 600 kilometers, with a new Guangzhou railway station as its heart, and Guangzhou-Shenzhen railway and Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway as the aortas of east and west Guangdong respectively. Other railways and roads help Guangdong to connect with other areas of GPRD.

Wu says, the current operational mileage of Guangdong is under the world level, which handicaps the province's fast economic growth.

The railway network will boost the sustainable economic development of Pearl River Delta and economic cooperation within Pan Pearl River Delta.

(Southcn.com March 15, 2004)