China Railway Development News

[hkskyline]

Key project completed for China's first high-speed, electrified trunk railway
30 May 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

NANCHANG, May 30 (CEIS) -- Construction of a bridge, a key project for the upgrading program of the trunk railway between Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces in east China, was completed over the weekend.

The railway is China's first trunk railroad that is being upgraded for electrified trains with a running speed of 200 kilometers per hour, according to Cai Guoqiang, deputy director ofthe rail road construction headquarters in Jiangxi.

Named Fuhe, the bridge is located in Jinxian County of Nanchang City, provincial capital of Jiangxi, with a total length of 1,380.59 meters. It is a double-line railway bridge designed to accommodate 200-km/hr cargo and passenger trains, the official said.

The Zhejiang-Jiangxi railway upgrading program started May 2004 and plans to have its mainstream project completed at the end of August 2005, he said.

The railway, from Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, to Zhuzhou, a city in central China's Hunan Province, is 942 km long, including a 564.1-km section in Jiangxi Province.

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Shanghai mulling subway fare increase to reduce overcrowding
May 31, 2005

AP - Subways in China's largest city are so jam-packed that officials have proposed boosting fares to help reduce crowding, setting off an outcry among residents who rely on the train lines to get to work.

Similar to Tokyo, subway employees now have to shove passengers in to get the doors closed. The most crowded line carries about 42 percent more passengers than it is designed to handle, and overall the system of two underground and one light-rail routes is running at 25 percent above capacity, the state-run newspaper Shanghai Daily reported Tuesday.

The city is holding public hearings on a plan that would raise fares to as much as 6 yuan (73 U.S. cents; 58 euro cents) from the current 4 yuan (50 U.S. cents; 40 euro cents). But consumer groups and residents are opposed, arguing that higher commuting costs would hurt middle-income families living in distant suburban areas.

Shanghai, a city of more than 20 million, now has only 82 kilometers (50 miles) of subway lines. By 2010, the number of lines is expected to rise from three to 11, and the total length of subway routes to 400 kilometers (250 miles).

But in the meantime, commuting options for the millions of city dwellers who have been forced by urban renewal projects to move to distant suburbs are limited. Buses, which cost as little as 1 yuan (12 U.S. cents; 9 euro cents) are also crammed full - and often stuck in massive traffic jams.

About one in four residents bicycle to work, but cycling from newly built suburbs 15 kilometers (9 miles) or more outside town is not a practical option.

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China's Rail Freight And Passenger Volume Hits Record in May

BEIJING, June 8 Asia Pulse - Chinese railways carried 92.947 million passengers in May, 4.423 million more than in the same period of last year, including 30.792 million passengers by through trains, up 2.898 million year on year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Railways.

The daily loading capacity averaged 104,364 wagons and daily unloading capacity averaged 108,171 wagons, 5,206 and 5,751, respectively, more than in the same time of last year. The amount of freight dispatched reached 194.343 million tons, up 11.895 million tons over the same time of 2004.

The total amount of coal carried reached 89.521 million tons in the month of May, rising 6.08 million tons; that of petroleum was 10.671 million tons, growing 372,000 tons; that of cereals was 9.163 million tons, up 1.112 million tons; that of fertilizers and pesticides, 6.044 million tons, increasing by 1.301 million tons.

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China begins construction of 1.5 billion dollar northern railway

BEIJING, June 12 (AFP) - Construction on a 1.5 billion dollar railway line between northern China's leading coal-producing Shanxi region and neighboring Hebei province began this weekend and is expected to alleviate transport bottlenecks in the area, state press said Sunday.

The 190 kilometer (114 mile) line between the Hebei provincial capital of Shijiazhuang and Shanxi's capital of Taiyuan is expected to be mainly used for passenger traffic and will be completed by 2008, Xinhua news agency said.

Completion of the railway will allow existing transport lines between the two regions to concentrate on moving coal out of the region, the report said.

China is facing serious energy shortages this year, with bottlenecks in coal transport partially responsible for electricity blackouts nationwide.

Construction of the railway will include the building of 94 bridges and 32 tunnels, including a 28 kilometer long tunnel, which will be China's longest railway tunnel upon completion, it said.

Train speeds on the new line are expected to reach 200 kilometers per hour, with the trip between the two cities expected to only take one hour, it said.

China is expected to build nine new railway passenger lines this year as part of a plan to construct some 120,000 kilometers of passenger lines by 2020, the report said.

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China paves way for first foreign-owned rail track
By MURE DICKIE
15 June 2005
Financial Times

China's eastern province of Shandong has called for overseas investment in up to six new local railway lines, opening the way for what analysts say would be the first wholly foreign-owned track to be laid since the 1949 communist revolution.

The Shandong lines are among several railway projects around China opened to foreign investors in recent months. In February, the central government backed overseas involvement in strategic sectors of the economy ranging from aviation to oil.

Foreign railway ownership has been a sensitive issue in China since colonial powers outraged many by building lines deep into the interior during the 19th century decline of the Qing dynasty.

Now Beijing sees foreign investment as an important way of accelerating construction of the nearly 30,000km of track China plans to build before 2020.

But the enthusiasm of international investors for what is one of the world's biggest railway construction booms may be undermined by a lack of regulatory clarity and vulnerability to bureaucratic whim.

Wen Lei, a railway expert at Beijing Normal University's school of management, said: "There are no legal guarantees and the Railway Ministry stresses centralised control, which makes things very uncertain for foreign investment."

It remains unclear under what rules Shandong is allowing complete foreign ownership of at least three of its six planned lines, which are expected to cost a total of over Rmb5bn (Dollars 600m, Euros 498m, Pounds 332m).

Provincial and railway system officials this week cited a number of sometimes contradictory regulations, including an order issued by Beijing's top economic planners late last year that said total ownership would be possible after December 2007.

Other Chinese provinces have in recent months offered foreign investors minority roles in railway construction projects, including a line between the capital Beijing and Shijiazhuang in neighbouring Hebei province and between southern Guangzhou and eastern Wuhan.

Railway officials in the central province of Henan say a US-invested Hong Kong company has agreed to take a 30 per cent stake in a Rmb2.5bn line to neighbouring Anhui. The joint venture was established in February, but no money has yet been put into the project.

Attempts in earlier years to attract foreign investment for Chinese railways foundered. Offshore investors in a line from the eastern city of Wenzhou pulled out after interference from railway authorities.

Endemic corruption in the railway system remains another potential obstacle. This week Caijing Magazine, one of China's most respected business publications, reported that more than Rmb6bn had been illegally misappropriated by staff of western China's Lanzhou Railway Bureau.

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Social capital sought for Wuhan-Guangzhou express railway
22 June 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

WUHAN, June 22 (CEIS) – Social capital from at home and abroad will be sought for the construction of an express railway from Wuhan, capital city of Central China’s Hubei Province, to Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong Province in South China.

This is the first time for China to open a trunkline railway to social investment.

The railway with a total length of 989 km will require a total investment of 116.6 billion yuan, of which 24 billion yuan will be raised from social investors. Construction of the railway will start on June 23 and be completed by the end of 2010.

China Railway Construction and Investment Company will be the controlling shareholder representing the Ministry of Finance, taking a 51% stake in the project. The three provinces of Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei will also hold interests by contributing the fees for land requisition. The rest totaling 24 billion yuan will be raised from domestic and overseas investors.

The Wuhan-Guangzhou express railway is a section of the planned Beijing-Guangzhou express railway. The Beijing-Wuhan section is now also under preparation. The whole railway will have a speed allowance of 200 km per hour. It will take only four hours from Wuhan to Guangzhou by train, seven hours less than the current voyage.

According to China’s railway network development plan, China will need 2 trillion yuan for railway construction in the coming 15 years, or an average of 130 billion yuan annually. The country’s annual investment in railways is now only about 50 billion yuan.

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Global warming poses threat to Tibet rail link
Reuters
June 24, 2005

Rising temperatures on the "roof the world'' threaten China's controversial railway link across the snow-covered Tibetan plateau, the China Daily said Thursday.

The pan-Himalayan rail project, which began in 1958, eight years after mainland troops invaded Tibet, is expected to be finished by the end of this year.

"By 2050, safe operation of the Qinghai-Tibet railway will be affected if temperatures keep rising steadily as observed over past decades,'' Luo Yong, deputy director of the National Climate Center, was quoted as saying.

Winter and summer temperatures on the Tibetan plateau could jump as much as 3.4 degrees Celsius by 2050, causing normally frozen ground under the rail line to melt, the China Daily said. Many climatologists consider the plateau a "magnifier'' of global climate change and an indicator of warming trends across East Asia, it said.

The railway will span 2,040 kilometers from Xining in Qinghai province, to the capital of Tibet, Lhasa.

China says the rail link will promote development and help raise living standards in the impoverished region, while Tibet activists say it will speed up the pace of Chinese migration to the area and dilute Tibetan culture.

Luo issued his warning at a symposium on climate change in Beijing, which has been simmering under temperatures as high as 40C in a heat wave that has struck northern China.

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China starts new round of railway construction in Yangtze River Delta
23 June 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, June 23 (CEIS) – A 50-billion-yuan new round of railway construction has started in the Yangtze River Delta.

At present, more than ten projects are going on simultaneously.

They include two state first class double-track railways, allowing a train to travel at a maximum speed of 200km/hr. The two railways will shorten the distance from Hefei (Anhui) to Nanjing from the original 312km to 166km and the distance from Hefei to Wuhan from the original 565km to 351km. When put into service, it would take only three hours to travel from Shanghai to Hefei, four hours less than at present, and only about five hours to travel from Shanghai to Wuhan.

The construction of the Shanghai South railway station with a floor space of 600,000 square meters will be completed toward the end of this year. The Shanghai-Hangzhou electrified railway will be the first of its kind in the Yangtze River Delta. Running 202 km, the line connects the Beijing-Shanghai line in the north, the Hangzhou- Zhuzhou and other railways in the south, carrying one third of the passengers and a quarter of cargo in the Yangtze River Delta.

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Guangzhou-Zhuhai rail link to boost regions west of Delta
Alice Yan
28 June 2005
South China Morning Post

A new multibillion-yuan railway system is to be built between Guangzhou and Zhuhai in the latest attempt to improve the economies of regions located west of the Pearl River Delta.

Construction of the 114km project, which will cost 19.5 billion yuan, will start next month and be completed in 2008, according to details of the programme reported yesterday by Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily.

The project will include the building of tracks, 30 bridges and three tunnels for both express and regular train services.

Trains would run every two minutes between 6am and midnight, the paper reported.

There will also be branch lines to Zhongshan and Jiangmen .

Trains on the slower line will stop at 14 stations between the New Guangzhou Railway Station in Panyu district and Zhuhai station. This trip will cost 40 yuan and take 86 minutes.

The project is a joint investment between the Ministry of Railways and the Guangdong Railway Group Company.

Guan Zhisheng , from the economics department of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said the rail link would strengthen infrastructure connections between the two cities, as well as with neighbouring cities.

In particular, it will link the two cities with the proposed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, which would help ease heavy traffic between Hong Kong and other cities in Guangdong.

The 28km cross-delta link, estimated to cost US$3.8 billion, could be opened by 2010 and would make Zhuhai and Macau a 30-minute drive from Hong Kong.

"The traffic between Hong Kong and Guangdong via Shenzhen is crowded and has almost hit saturation levels," Professor Guan said. "Therefore, the new railway would make travel easier."

Work started on the 13 billion yuan New Guangzhou Railway Station last December.

The building of the station forms part of a blueprint for Guangzhou aimed at improving transport links between the city and other hubs, according to Professor Guan.

[Jaroslaw]

-So in five years it will be possible to get from HK to Shanghai in ten hours!

:runaway:

[hkskyline]

China signs 20-year pact for Bombardier trains
High-speed rail order may reach 400 units
BERTRAND MAROTTE
28 June 2005
The Globe and Mail

MONTREAL -- Bombardier Inc. is cementing its presence in the booming Chinese market with an exclusive 20-year agreement to supply high-speed trains to its Ministry of Railways.

Montreal-based Bombardier said yesterday that the deal will provide the company with a significant long-term opportunity in China as the country moves to upgrade 2,000 kilometres of track and expand its capacity for passenger and cargo rail transport.

No value was put on the agreement and no actual orders were announced yesterday.

The accord also calls for the creation of a high-speed train maintenance centre in Guangzhou by 2007. Bombardier will design the centre and provide the equipment, while the China Ministry of Railways will supply the land and the building. The centre will have a capacity of 250 train sets.

Bombardier will also supply spare parts, maintenance management services, technical support and staff training.

Bombardier chairman and chief executive officer Laurent Beaudoin and Bombardier Transportation president André Navarri signed the agreement with China Ministry of Railways vice-minister Hu Yadong in a ceremony yesterday in Beijing.

One analyst played down the announcement.

“Bombardier has been expanding its presence in China, but there's nothing concrete out of this signing ceremony,” said Cameron Doerksen of Versant Partners Inc. in Montreal.

So far, Bombardier has won orders for 40 high-speed trains in China, a country whose fast-growing economy is a crucial one for Bombardier's long-term growth.

China had previously said it wanted 200 new high-speed trains, but changed that forecast to 400 last fall.

The initial order for 20 eight-car trains able to reach speeds of 200 kilometres an hour was worth $424-million (U.S.) to Bombardier and its Chinese joint venture partner. Bombardier's share is valued at about $263-million.

Bombardier also recently won an $89-million contract to build an automated train system at the new terminal of Beijing's international airport, part of the city's infrastructure expansion for the 2008 Olympic Games.

“This agreement is another testimony of Bombardier's long-standing commitment to the Chinese market,” Mr. Navarri said in a statement yesterday.

“Our aim has always been to be a full-fledged partner and contributor to the development of the railway network in China. We want to support this development not only in supplying products, but also in providing value-added services and know-how that will ensure long-term efficiency and success to the operator.”

Bombardier Transportation spokeswoman Hélène Gagnon said the company is already recognized in China as the only manufacturer of rolling stock that participates in joint ventures with Chinese partners.

This latest agreement makes Bombardier the only foreign rolling-stock supplier to enter into an exclusive long-term agreement, she added.

“This positions us as a preferred supplier,” she said.

Bombardier shares fell 2 cents (Canadian) or 0.74 per cent to $2.69 on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday.

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Railway investment group inaugurated in S. China city
29 June 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

GUANGZHOU, June 29 (CEIS) -- The Guangdong Railway Construction Investment Group has gone into business on June 29 in this capital of south China's Guangdong province, which plans to develop 2,164 km of railways and inter-city rail systems in 15 years.

According to the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Guangdong Province, the group has a total investment of 120 billion yuan (14.45 billion US dollars) and is the largest railway investment company in mainland China.

The group is the first wholly-owned company set up by the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Guangdong Province since it was established. It is an attempt to make the state assets profitable, the commission source said.

In collection of funds for railway construction, the Guangdong provincial government will put 31.8 billion yuan (3.83 billion US dollars) into the group. And other funds totaling 90 billion yuan (10. 84 billion US dollars) will be collected through bank loans, bond issuance, fund rising through BOT projects and sales of property rights, the commission said.

In accordance with the summary of stepping up railway development in Guangdong signed between the Ministry of Railway and the Guangdong provincial government, the province will build nine railways and urban rail systems by 2020.

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Completion of Qinghai-Tibet Railway in sight
4 July 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

LHASA, July 4 (CEIS) -- More than 1,000 kilometers of tracks have been laid on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's most elevated railroad, and the track laying work is expected to complete within this year, the headquarters of the railway construction said.

The railway from Gelmud in Qinghai Province to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, runs 1,142 kilometers on the Qinghai- Tibet Plateau, dubbed "roof of the world".

Construction workers are now busy laying tracks at two critical sections of the longest plateau railroad in the world, the headquarters said on July 2.

A team is now heading for a location of 5,072 meters in elevation on the Tanggula Mountain, the highest point of the railway.

Another team is laying tracks in the area between Yangbajain and Lhasa, where a long and extremely slopy section that streches about 40 kilometers poses a challenge to the construction workers, the headquarters said.

But the headquarters said it had made detailed plans to deal with all possible problems that might emerge in the course of construction.

The construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway started in late June, 2001, and it is scheduled to start trial operation in the second half of 2006.

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China begins construction of 12.3 billion yuan Beijing-Tianjin rail link

BEIJING, July 5 (AFP) - China has begun construction of a 12.3 billion yuan (1.48 billion dollar) rail link between Beijing and the northern city of Tianjin aimed at boosting the regional economy, state press said Tuesday.

The 115 kilometre (69 mile) high-speed line, which is due to be completed before June 2008 in time for the Olympic Games, will half the travel time between the two cities to 30 minutes, the China Daily said.

The project, backed by the Ministry of Railways and the Beijing and Tianjin local governments, is aimed at helping economic development in the region, it said.

The project is one of a number of high-speed railways that are expected to be built throughout China as the nation upgrades its railway system.

Construction on a 1.5 billion dollar railway line between the leading coal-producing Shanxi region and neighboring Hebei province began in early June and is expected to alleviate transport bottlenecks in the area.

The 190 kilometre (114 mile) line between the Hebei provincial capital of Shijiazhuang and Shanxi's capital of Taiyuan is expected to be mainly used for passenger traffic and will also be completed by 2008, Xinhua news agency said.

China is expected to build nine new railway passenger lines this year as part of a plan to construct some 120,000 kilometres of lines by 2020, it said.

Meanwhile, the construction of a 22 kilometre (14 mile) subway line has begun in the northeastern city of Shenyang, which is expected to cost the provincial capital of Liaoning some 9.48 billion yuan (1.14 billion dollars).

"The project will not only ease urban transport congestion but also play a positive role in renovating the old industrial base," Zhao Jincheng, a leading city politician told Xinhua.

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China's Railway Passenger Transport Volume Edges Down in June

BEIJING, July 11 Asia Pulse - China's passenger transport volume by railway reached 86.49 million person times (or 2.883 million person times daily) in June, 0.3 per cent less than in the same period last year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Railways.

Statistics also showed that railway freight transport volume totaled 219.19 million tons in June, up 6.7 per cent over the corresponding period in 2004 while freight turnover in the month hit 167.039 billion ton-kilometers, up 5.4 per cent on-year.

The railway sector loaded 104,354 trains in June, up 3.9 per cent on-year.

In June, the coal transport volume by railway totaled 106.36 million tons, up 10.9 per cent year-on-year; that of grain, 9.48 million tons, up 13.8 per cent; that of oil, 12.53 million tons, up 9.7 per cent; that of chemical fertilizer and pesticide, 5.66 million tons, up 10.2 per cent.

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Guangdong to Construct Nine Railways by 2020

GUANGZHOU, July 12 Asia Pulse - South China's Guangdong Province will invest 120 billion yuan (US$14.4 billion) to construct nine railways and inter-city railroads with a total length of 2,164 kilometers by 2020, according to the Guangdong Provincial Railway Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd.

The new railways include the Wuhan-Guangzhou special passenger railway, the Guangzhou-Zhuhai railroad, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen railroad, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong special passenger railway, the Xiamen-Shenzhen railroad (Guangdong section) and the Guangzhou-Maoming double-track railway.

They are scheduled for completion by 2020.

After the completion, the rail length of the province will reach about 4,000 kilometers.

(XIC)

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China promotes financing system reform for railway sector
14 July 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

DALIAN, July 14 (CEIS) – Under the train of thought of “ government leading, diversification of investment and operation by market principle”, China will energetically promote reform of the investment and financing system of railway sector, said Zhang Jianping, vice director of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Railway.

An important measure of the reform is to strengthen cooperation with local governments in railway construction, said Zhang.

It is learned that since 2004, the Ministry of Railway (MOR) has signed strategic cooperation agreements with 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions on speeding up construction of railway. In September 2004, MOR signed an agreement with Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces to jointly construct Harbin-Dalian special passenger railway line. In May this year, it signed agreement with Liaoning Provincial Government on speeding up construction of railways within the province. MOR is now negotiating with Jilin Provincial Government on railway construction within the province.

Meanwhile, China will actively introduce capital from enterprises and the society, and invite bids for such efficient projects as special passenger railway lines, coal transport railways and container hubs.

According to Zhang, MOR has already reached agreements on some projects with some State-owned and private enterprises, to launch joint-stock railway companies.

MOR is studying related policies for allocation of transportation capacity, transport fee and taxation, aiming to protect the rights and interests of and create a better investment environment for investors.

As one of the several large monopolized sectors in China, railway reform has always been a hot topic among all circles both at home and abroad. Competent department is probing to establish a multi-channel financing system for railway construction. In April 2002, for the first time in China, the Yantai-Dalian railway ferry project was opened to foreign investors, a key step for China towards the reform.

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China plans to construct 1,300 km of urban rail by 2010
21 July 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

CHONGQING, July 21 (CEIS) – According to the urban rail traffic plans of 15 Chinese cities, by 2010, China will newly construct 1,300 km of urban rail, with total investment involved estimated to reach 500 billion yuan.

China is entering the development stage of urbanization and mechanization, with urban population and urban traffic volume increasing rapidly. Pure ground roads can hardly meet the traffic demand in most cities. Urban rail, with such advantages as large transportation volume, high efficiency and low pollution, has become the first choice for many large cities to resolve their traffic problem, said Wang Tiehong, chief engineer of the Ministry of Construction.

Up to present, 18 urban rails with combined length reaching 425 km are in operation in 10 Chinese cities. Urban rail projects are being carried out in 7 cities, with total length exceeding 400 km. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are constructing urban rail at a speed of 40 km a year.

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China allows private, foreign capital in railway sector to fund expansion

BEIJING, July 25 (AFP) - China has opened the doors for foreign and private capital to enter its railway industry to help fund its much-awaited network expansion, state media reported Monday, citing the Ministry of Railways.

"Foreign and private companies are now allowed, through cash investment or technical cooperation, to take part in the construction, operation, maintenance and improvement of China's railways," Xinhua news agency quoted the ministry as saying.

The report did not detail any shareholding or investment limits.

Foreign and private companies can choose either solely or jointly to invest in the design and manufacture of railway equipment including trains, bridges, and communication and safety equipment, Xinhua added.

"The move is in accordance with China's pledges made upon entering the World Trade Organization," Xinhua said.

The ministry is trying to attract capital to meet the two trillion yuan (247 billion dollars) needed for a plan to extend the country's railway system from the existing 74,000 kilometres (46,000 miles) to 100,000 kilometres (62,000 miles) by 2020.

Zhang Jianping, vice director of the railway ministry's planning department, told the China Daily earlier that the ministry also planned to invite bids for projects on passenger lines and container stations which are profitable.

To raise capital, Zhang said his ministry was also working on reorganizing some state-owned railway companies to list them on the stock market.

Experts cautioned that policies were still not in place to boost investor confidence that they will earn a profit.

For instance, the existing rail charge system allows no price fluctuation in line with market changes.

The country is largely dependent on railways for passenger and coal transport but the system has not been able to meet the rising demand brought about by rapid economic growth.

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China opens four key railway fields to non-state-owned capitals
28 July 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, July 28 (CEIS) – Domestic non-state-owned capitals are allowed to participate in all the four key fields of China’s railway sector that are open to foreign investment, according to the Advices on Implementation of Encouraging, Supporting and Guiding Non-state- owned Economy to Participate in Railway Construction and Operations issued by the Ministry of Railway recently.

According to a principle of equal footing and fair treatment, the restrictive terms will be softened properly for non-state-owned capital to enter the four key railway fields including railway construction, transportation, operation and manufacturing of transportation equipment.

Individual and foreign investors may set up railway passenger transport joint ventures in the future. Railway sector, which has been monopolized for tens of years, will enter the market in deed.

Specifically, the four key railway fields are:

-- Railway construction: Non-state-owned capitals are encouraged to participate in the construction and renovation of trunk line railway, feeder railway, local railway and related bridge, tunnel and ferry facilities, in the form of joint stock company, project financing, non-equity joint venture and joint operation.

-- Railway transportation: Non-state-owned capitals are allowed to participate in the railway cargo and passenger transportation in the form of equity or non-equity joint venture, joint operation, and join stock company; when conditions are satisfied, non-state-owned capitals are allowed to set up holding company or solely-invested railway cargo transportation company, and establish passenger transportation joint venture which shall be controlled by state-owned capital. In addition, non-state-owned enterprises are allowed to operate the luggage van of passenger train, special luggage train and special postal luggage train in the form of charter.

-- Manufacturing of railway transportation equipment. Non-state- owned capitals are encouraged to participate in the designing and manufacturing of railway locomotive and main parts, designing and manufacturing of railway line and bridge equipment, development of high-speed railway technology and manufacturing of related equipment, manufacturing of telecom signal and transportation security monitoring equipment, and manufacturing of electric railway equipment and apparatus. Their participation in the manufacturing of railway transportation equipment may take the form of equity or non-equity joint venture, solely-invested company, joint operation, with no limit on the proportion of holding shares.

-- Diversified operation of railway. Non-state-owned capitals including private capital are encouraged to join in the railway supplementary business, participating in the reorganization and restructuring of diversified operation business, and they are also allowed to set up holding company or solely-invested company.

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Bombardier gets $382M train order from Chinese railway
Bloomberg News
27 August 2005

Bombardier Inc., the world's biggest maker of railway equipment, won a 2.58-billion yuan ($382-million) contract for electric trains from Guangshen Railway Co., a railway operator in southern China. Guangshen Railway's board approved an agreement to buy 20 trains from Bombardier and a Chinese venture, the Shenzhen-based company said in a statement yesterday. The trains will be delivered by the end of 2007, it said. Guangshen Railway said it will use the trains for services between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and also to Hong Kong. The company's shares rose as much as 1% to in Hong Kong. The stock has fallen 20% this year. Shares in Montreal-based Bombardier were unchanged at $3.10 yesterday in Toronto.

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Tibet Railway Nears Finish
By Hu Xiao
31 August 2005
China Daily

LHASA: After four years of construction, much of it in extremely rugged terrain, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Project will be ready for testing in less than a year.

Workmen are currently completing Lhasa Railway Station, the biggest transport station on the line.

"The whole project is going very well now. The railway will be paved up to Lhasa by the end of the year. We're sure that the whole railway will be ready for trials by next July 1," said Sun Fuqing, vice-minister of railways here yesterday.

Accompanied by the sound of drills and sledgehammers, members of the central government delegation to Tibet to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region visited the under-construction station and greeted the workmen yesterday.

Jia Qinglin, head of the delegation, spoke highly of the railway: "The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is a landmark project that is part of the government's drive to develop the country's western regions. It will benefit the development of Tibet's communications and tourism, and promote economic and cultural exchanges between Tibet and other parts of China."

Work on the project began on June 29, 2001. The railroad starts from Golmud in Qinghai Province, and stretches a distance of 1,142 kilometres to Lhasa in the south. About 960 kilometres of the track are over 4,000 metres above sea level, with the highest point 5,072 metres. In addition, 550 kilometres of the line are laid on frozen earth, according to Sun.

"When completed, it will be the highest and longest highland railroad in the world," Sun said.

Tenzin, a worker on the Tibet Railway Station project, said: "All of us hope that the whole line can be completed at an early date. It will only take 48 hours to travel from Lhasa to Beijing."

On the construction site, only one narrow route is available for workmen and vehicles to pass through. Tenzin said it is to protect the ecosystem along the railway.

Wetlands and the vast expanse of frozen earth are also carefully protected along the railway, according to Vice-Minister Sun.

On Monday, 200 bar-headed geese were released into the wild at the highest swamp in the world Lhalu Wetland Nature Reserve after being raised by humans for 18 months. "It is the first time in China that artificially-bred bar-headed geese have been released into the wild," said Ding Feng, a researcher with the Nida Research Base of Wild Animal Breeding in Lhasa.

[hkskyline]

Nanjing courts MTR investment
City eyes property model of HK operator as it chases funds for 10.5b yuan project
Mark O'Neill in Nanjing
8 September 2005
South China Morning Post

Nanjing needed six billion yuan in outside capital to finance a second railway and wanted investment from MTR Corp, the city's vice-mayor said yesterday.

Nanjing's first railway, of 21.7km, opened on Saturday, making it the sixth mainland city with a metro, after Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

"We have applied for permission from Beijing for a second line and will receive it," vice-mayor Chen Jiabao said at a BNP Paribas Peregrine seminar.

"This will need 10.5 billion yuan in capital, of which the government will invest 40 per cent and the rest will come from banks and the public. We welcome investment by Hong Kong's MTR."

MTR has invested in the metros of Beijing and Shenzhen but may baulk at the less appealing prospects on offer in Nanjing.

"We have sent people to study [the MTR] and receive training. Of course, our network is too small now to make money. On the second line, we will use the Hong Kong model and develop property along the line," Mr Chen said.

The China market offers to MTR investment prospects unmatched in the world.

At the opening of the Nanjing line, Vice-Minister of Construction Chou Baoxing said that over the next five years, mainland cities would invest 500 billion yuan in 1,500km of railways and light rail systems.

"We have 43 cities with over one million people and 14 cities with over two million. By 2010, 45 per cent of the population will live in urban areas. Railways are vital," Mr Chou said.

He praised the construction of the line in Nanjing as the cheapest in China so far, at 400 million yuan per kilometre. Total construction cost 8.5 billion yuan.

According to its website, the Nanjing Metro plans to build 10 railway and four light rail lines by 2050, with 433km of track. It first drew up a railway plan in 1984 but did not start construction until December 2000 because it could not obtain permission from Beijing.

The government is nervous about approving rail lines because of the enormous costs and the possible inflationary effects. In October 2002, it banned approvals of new lines, which it relaxed only in June this year. It has since cleared the plans of four cities - Hangzhou, Shenyang, Harbin and Chengdu.

[hkskyline]

Beijing subways to haul 15 million travels during National Day holidays
26 September 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, September 26 (CEIS) -- The subway network of this national capital will haul approximately 15.05 million travels during the upcoming National Day holiday that will begin from Oct.1.

An official with the Beijing Municipal Subway Operation Corporation sets the daily passenger transport volume via the subway network during the seven-day holiday period at 2.15 million journeys, and the travel peak might occur on Oct.1, with 2.6 million travels.

To ensure a normal operation of the subway system, the Beijing Municipal Subway Operation Corporation have got all trains currently used for transportation checked thoroughly and have had 14 other trains in reserve, said the official.

In the meantime, the corporation is also expected to prolong the current service time on all the four subway lines by 35 minutes to 80 minutes to cope with the rising need of passengers for travels during the national holiday season.

[hkskyline]

China builds 200-kph railway in southeast province
4 October 2005

Fuzhou, October 4 (Xinhua) -- China has started building a 200 kilometer-per-hour railway from Fuzhou, capital city of southeast China's Fujian Province, to Xiamen, a coastal city in the province.

The line, with a length of 273 kilometers and a total investment of 14.42 billion yuan, will be completed in 2009.

Since the railway will be constructed in high land, about 40 percent of the railway will be on bridges and in tunnels.

The Fuzhou-Xiamen line is part of China's coastal network of express railways.

The original railways in the province, with speeds of 60 to 70 kilometers per hour, are antiquated, a local official said.

The Fuzhou-Xiamen line will connect the original ones and form a network within the province, he said.

[hkskyline]

Construction on 200-kph railway in Fujian begins
10 October 2005
China Daily

China has started building a 200 kilometer-per-hour railway from Fuzhou, capital city of East China's Fujian Province, to Xiamen, a coastal city in the province.

The line, with a length of 273 kilometers and a total investment of 14.42 billion yuan (US$1.78 billion), will be completed in 2009.

Since the railway will be constructed in high land, about 40 percent of the railway will be on bridges and in tunnels.

The Fuzhou-Xiamen line is part of China's coastal network of express railways.

The original railways in the province, with speeds of 60 to 70 kilometers per hour, are antiquated, a local official said.

The Fuzhou-Xiamen line will connect the original ones and form a network within the province, he said.

[hkskyline]

China approves first Sino-foreign urban subway project
14 October 2005
China Daily

The National Development and Reform Commission has approved a Sino-foreign franchised project on the No 4 subway line in Beijing, Beijing Daily reported.

This is the first of its kind approved by the commission. Construction on the 28.65-km No 4 subway line, which runs through Fengtai, Xuanwu, Xicheng and Haidian districts of Beijing,started last November and is expected to be completed in 2009. The investment is estimated at 15.3 billion yuan (US$1.90 billion).

The Sino-foreign joint venture, Beijing Jinggang Subway Co Ltd, will be responsible for the financing, construction and operation of the subway line. The term of the franchised project will be 30 years after the subway's trial operation.

[hkskyline]

Rail link brings rest of world to Tibet
17 October 2005
China Daily

The first fully-loaded train to cover the entire Qinghai-Tibet Railway route arrived in Lhasa, the Tibet Autonomous Region, on October 15.

The historic journey added a perfect finishing touch to what President Hu Jintao described, in his congratulatory message at the celebration ceremony, as an "unparalleled feat" on the "roof of the world."

Like our second manned space flight, which is arousing both pride and envy at home and abroad, the 24-billion-yuan (US$2.96 billion) project is the fruit of our growing comprehensive national strength.

Tibet's need for and dream of a rail link with the rest of the country did not start until in 2001, when construction began.

The region had for decades remained the only province-level administrative area in China without a railway, because we had neither the money nor the technology.

We should first pay tribute to the railway workers that contributed either their ideas or physical strength to making the decades-old wish come true.

Our scientists demonstrated impressive competence in the uncharted waters of railway construction at extremely high altitudes.

A total of 960 kilometres of the 1,142-kilometre Golmud-Lhasa section of the railway are at least 4,000 metres above sea level. The track reaches 5,072 metres at Tanggula Pass.

At such altitudes, frozen soil, the fragile ecology and oxygen deficiency were believed to be insuperable natural barriers to railway building. Among voices of dissent, there was the claim that a railway like this would result in irreparable damage to the environment.

In total, 550 kilometres of the tracks were laid on frozen soil. Vegetation was meticulously preserved. Pollution was kept to a minimum. In order not to disrupt the seasonable migration routes of animals, including the famous Tibetan antelope, planners added to their blueprints a network of culverts.

At such altitudes, often considered unsuitable for human habitation, railway building is not only a challenge to human wisdom, but first of all a test of physiological endurance.

For that alone, the railway should forever be appreciated with respect and gratitude for its builders.

Each sleeper and section of track they laid took a huge effort, quite aside from the construction of the numerous bridges and tunnels that dot the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

They have made history not just in China but the whole world.

The railway, which they sweated for four years to build, is set to make history in the country's strategic attempt to balance regional development.

The rail link does more than incorporate the Tibet Autonomous Region and part of Qinghai Province in the national railway network. It will prove a significant boost to economic progress on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The lack of a rail link with the rest of the country had long been a major obstacle to the area's economic ambitions. The railway will considerably reduce transport costs and accelerate the flow of commodities when it begins trial operations in July 2006.

Unlike traditional track-rolling missions, the first train was not loaded to full capacity with sand or rocks, but arrived at Lhasa on Saturday carrying aid.

Major State firms have donated 12,300 tons of various materials, including chemical fertilizers, wheat flour and steel products, in an enthusiastic response to the Ministry of Railways' idea to turn the track-rolling trips into aid missions.

Tibet has been receiving assistance from both the central government and fraternal provinces.

With the newly acquired rail link, the people of Tibet can expect even more benefits from afar.

[hkskyline]

China Announces Completion Of Work On Tibet Railway
15 October 2005

BEIJING (AP)--China Saturday announced the official completion of the first railway to Tibet, a controversial engineering feat that is one of the world's highest train lines, crossing mountain passes up to 5,000 meters high.

The railway is part of efforts to develop the poor west and bind Tibet more closely to China's interior. The government says it will start carrying passengers next year and should spur trade and investment, easing poverty in Tibet.

Activists complain the line will bring a flood of ethnic Chinese migrants to the isolated Himalayan region, diluting its unique Buddhist culture. Environmentalists say it will damage Tibet's fragile ecology and lead to the exploitation of its resources.

Completion of construction was marked with a ceremony Saturday morning in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Tibet's regional capital basked in glory," Xinhua said.

Critics say most of the economic benefits of Tibet's economic development will go to immigrants from China's east.

But activists and foreign diplomats also say the communist Beijing government is the only entity willing to invest the billions of dollars needed to ease poverty in the region.

Chinese officials insist that they are making efforts to employ Tibetans on the railway and are taking precautions to protect the region's fragile ecology.

About 80% of the 1,956-kilometer line linking Lhasa to the city of Xining in the western province of Qinghai lies above 4,000 meters, according to the government.

The train will have special cars that are sealed like aircraft to protect passengers from altitude sickness. Crews building the line worked at such high altitudes that they breathed bottled oxygen.

Until now, goods going to and from Tibet have been trucked over mountain highways often blocked by landslides or snow, making trade prohibitively expensive.

Communist troops occupied Tibet in 1950 and Beijing says the region has been Chinese territory for centuries. But many Tibetans say they were independent for much of that time.

Beijing has planned the railway since the 1950s. But construction was blocked by the cost and technical obstacles.

The track crosses hundreds of kilometers of permafrost, and sits on special rollers and pontoons designed to keep it in place as the ground melts and refreezes.

Its highest station will be in Nagqu, a town at an altitude of 4,500 meters in the rolling grasslands of the Tibetan plateau.

According to Xinhua, the highest point on the line is 5,072 meters, which the government says is a world record.

[hkskyline]

Germany's Siemens to Provide 72 Cars for Shanghai Subway

SHANGHAI, Oct 21 Asia Pulse - Siemens has been contracted to deliver 72 new cars for the Shanghai Subway Co. by 2007.

Siemens signed the deal in association with its Chinese partner Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Plant. The deal also includes the renovation of the former 24 subway cars it made for Shanghai Subway, which would add the number of carriages from six to eight for each car.

The new subway cars' carrying capacity will reach 2,480 passengers each from the present 1,860 passengers a car each.

Siemens is not only a provider for Shanghai's subway cars, but also the metropolitan's subway signal, power supply and telecommunications systems. It signed a contract to provide Shanghai's No. 2 Subway Line with 168 subway cars in 2002.

(XIC)

[hkskyline]

Shenyang to Build 6 Subway Lines in Next 10 Years
21 October 2005
SinoCast China Business Daily News

cSHENYANG, October 21, SinoCast -- Chen Zhenggao, mayor of Shenyang City of northeastern China's Liaoning Province, said that the city planned to complete construction of six subway lines in the next ten years or more time.

Mr. Shen told journalists that preparation works for the first phase project of the Subway No.1 Line would be completed by the end of this October and the Phase I project of the Subway No.2 Line would be launched in 2006.

Then Shenyang will successively start construction of the rest four lines. The mayor explained that it would not be convenient for people if there were only one or two subway lines.

Rapid economic development in Shenyang will support subway construction there. In the first nine months of this year, GDP of the whole city reached CNY 158.6 billion with a year-on-year growth of 15.7%, fiscal revenues topped CNY 12.32 billion with a year-on-year growth of 28.4%.

The city aims to control subway construction cost within CNY 430 million per kilometer.

[hkth]

Translating from Hong Kong Railway Discussion Board (http://www.hkrdb.net/hkrdb.cgi?board=main&mesg_id=4862),

The Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway Coporation (GSRC) is starting to replace the paper tickets into IC Cards (Intellgent Cards) today. The IC Cards have both Single-Ride and Multi-Ride Cards.

Four Phases for transforming into IC Card,
First Phase: Only the last departure;
Second Phase: 3 north bound and 3 south bound departures at night;
Third Phase: Extend to most departures at night;
Last Phase (At around Nov 27): All high-speed trains between GZ and SZ use IC Cards.

[hkskyline]

MTR to seek US$370.85m loan to help fund Beijing rail link
18 October 2005
China Daily

Hong Kong-listed MTR Corp Ltd will seek a three billion yuan (US$370.85 million) loan with State-owned partner Beijing Capital Group after winning approval from the National Development and Reform Commission to build and operate a rail link running across the center of Beijing.

Richard Wong, MTR's general manager said 735 million yuan of the total investment will come from internal funds and the remaining 3.03 billion yuan will come from project financing.

MTR and Beijing Capital will each hold 49 percent in the venture developing the project, with municipal government-owned Beijing Infrastructure holding 2 percent.

The Beijing municipal government will pay for 70 percent, or about 10.7 billion yuan, of the project's total cost of 15.3 billion yuan.

The remainder, about 4.6 billion yuan, will be borne by the joint venture, of which 66 percent will come from bank loans and the rest from shareholders, Wong said.

[hkskyline]

Shenzhen RMB50 billion to improve subway and public transport
26 October 2005

Shenzhen City Deputy-mayor Zhang Si-ping reveals that the Shenzhen city government is planning to invest RMB50 billion to further improve transport networks in the city. These transport networks include subway and bus transport.

Among all public transport network, about RMB37 billion will be invested in subways which include Metro No. 4 Phase II, currently under construction by Mass Transit Railway Corp. (MTRC). The subway is scheduled to complete by 2010. The RMB37 billion of work is estimated to give Shenzhen 150km of subway by 2010. The Metro No. 4 Phase II requires an investment of RMB6 billion. It is expected to start operation in 2008. It connects to Kowloon Canton Railway Corp. (KCRC) and Lok Ma Chau railway line in Hong Kong.

Shenzhen Bus Group, a joint venture of Kowloon Motor Bus and the Shenzhen City Public Transport Group, is required to meet the following standard by 2007:

1) reducing customer complaints by 50%.

2) increasing network coverage to 98%

3) adding 20 new bus routes.

4) improving bus outlook.

5) bringing in 200 big buses.

6) using electronic bus route map and display.

7) reducing bus accidents and inappropriate incidents.

All these are set and done with a purpose of raising public transport management and service quality. Shenzhen city government has invested RMB1.1 billion into the joint venture. KMB, on the other hand, invests RMB500 million to take a 35% equity stake.

Wen Wei Po

[hkskyline]

China plans to list part of rail network - FT

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - China wants to list part of its rail network on domestic or overseas stock markets within the next two years, a government official said in comments published on Tuesday.

Speaking to Britain's Financial Times, Huang Min, chief economist at China's railway ministry, said foreign investors will be able to take minority stakes in national lines and majority or full ownership of local railways.

"I hope overseas companies will think this is an opportunity and will invest and take a direct role in operations," he told the newspaper in a report on its Web site (http://www.ft.com).

"We will encourage the entities with the best market efficiency to list, including on overseas markets. This will happen next year or the year after."

The initial public offerings would help fund proposed railway investment worth $248 billion up to 2020, the report said.

[hkskyline]

GE wins deal to supply 300 train locomotives to China

WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (AFP) - US conglomerate General Electric Co. said Tuesday it had won a big contract to supply 300 train locomotives to China to help in the booming country's bid to modernise its vast rail network.

GE said it had signed the contract worth more than 450 million dollars with the Chinese Railways Ministry to supply the 6,000-horsepower locomotives in cooperation with the Qishuyan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works.

"We are excited and pleased to advance our presence in the rail industry in China," said John Dineen, chief executive of GE Infrastructure's rail business, in a statement.

The deal "will open new lines of revenue, give us a larger installed base outside of North America and enable GE to better compete to replace China's current fleet of 6,500 mainline locomotives over the next 15 years", he said.

Delivery of the locomotives is planned to start in 2007 and end in 2009.

The Railways Ministry Tuesday outlined plans to list parts of China's vast but creaking rail network on global stock markets to raise some of the 250 billion dollars it needs over the next 15 years for renovation and expansion.

Although investment has poured into China's roads and airports, its laggard railway system has not kept pace, causing holdups at the country's ports and lengthy delays in the delivery of commodities.

[hkskyline]

Phase 2 Project of Shenzhen Metro Line 4 Starts Construction

SHENZHEN, November 08, SinoCast -- The second phase project of 16-kilometer Shenzhen Metro Line 4, developed by MTR Corporation Limited, has started construction, which will link the city center and "Longhua central district".

After it is operational, Hong Kong people will be able to get to Longhua by subway, and then go to Shenzhen airport, or they even can directly arrive in Shanghai by train from Shenzhen, said an official from Shenzhen Planning Bureau.

Shenzhen will set up its new railway station in Longhua Town, which is the crossing point of Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen railway lines. The six trunk roads under construction or will be constructed will connect Longhua too.

Insiders from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said express railways between Hong Kong and Guangdong Province is forming, and midway stop will be located in Longhua District, which will drive more Hong Kong people to buy properties there.

It is estimated that population in Longhua will swell to 830,000 from current 430,000 in ten years.

[hkskyline]

14 Chinese Cities Plan 1,500 Km of Urban Railway Lines
10 November 2005

Fourteen Chinese cities have so far presented plans for developing urban railway networks comprising a total 55 lines with a combined length of 1,500 km and total investments standing at 500 bln Chinese yuan ($61.8 bln/52.6 bln euro), the China Communications and Transportation Association said.

Nine Chinese cities had urban railway lines with a total length of over 400 km as of February 2005, including 293 km of underground lines. The nine cities were Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Changchun, Dalian, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Nanjing.

There are over 40 Chinese cities with a population of over one million. More than 30 of these cities have started building urban railway lines or are carrying out preliminary construction works.

Chinese cities have invested 200 bln yuan ($24.7 bln/21 bln euro) in urban railway projects in the period 2001 to 2005. By 2010, cities in China will have urban railway networks with a total length of over 1,000 km.

http://www.sinoprojects.net

[hkskyline]

MTR expected to get Beijing No.10 Subway Line
11 November 2005

MTR Corporation (MTR) is expected to reach an agreement with Beijing City Government to build the Beijing No.10 Subway Line. This is MTR's another major project in China after it has secured a subway and property development project to build the Shenzhen No.4 Metro Line.

The Beijing No.10 Subway Line has a total length of 32.9km and 28 stations. The construction will be divided into two phases. The first phase of construction, involving 24.585km of subway length, will have 22 subway stations. The second phase of construction connects the No.10 Subway Line with the No.5 Subway Line at Songjiazhuang station. Another part of the No.10 Subway Line in the second phase is a westward extension from Xitou Wanliu Station to Nanding Station.

Although details of the Beijing No.10 Subway Line is not revealed, it is believed that the No.10 Subway Line will not have property development rights attached.

Hong Kong Commercial Daily News

[hkskyline]

Shinkansen on track for China network
Kazumasa Higashi
Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
22 November 2005

China will buy Shinkansen Hayate trains made and marketed by a consortium of six Japanese companies for a 12,000-kilometer high-speed railway network expected to cost more than 10 trillion yen, it was learned Monday.

Germany's Siemens AG's InterCity Express (ICE) trains also will be used in the project. The Chinese Railway Ministry has decided to purchase 60 ICE trains, each with eight cars, and plans to reach a contract with the Japanese consortium for 60 Hayate trains soon, sources said. Trains will travel at up to 300 kph on the network.

The six firms are Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Hitachi, Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Itochu Corp. and Marubeni Corp.

Although Japan, France and Germany competed to have trains used exclusively in the network, the Shinkansen and ICE models will almost certainly both be used, the sources said. A French high-speed model called the TGV train was not adopted.

The Shinkansen train will make its maiden run on the railway system in China in 2008 at the earliest.

Construction of the high-speed railway network includes a project to connect Beijing with Shanghai. The Japanese government has urged China to adopt the Shinkansen model for this section, but it is unclear if the Shinkansen train will run between Beijing and Shanghai.

The ministry sounded out the Japanese firms and Siemens for the purchase in October, the sources said. The ministry likely will urge Japan, Germany and other nations to supply other project components, such as railway signals, for individual lines.

[hkskyline]

Central China industrial city to build subway next year
24 November 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

WUHAN, November 24 (CEIS) -- Construction on two subway projects is expected to begin next year in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province.

The two railway lines, one about 27 km long and the other about 16 km, will both include tunnels across the Yangtze River, which will greatly alleviate the traffic load on the existing bridges.

Located at the juncture of the Yangtze River and Han Rivers, the city is segmented into three towns and traffic relies heavily on the aboveground transportation networks.

Wuhan has more than 640,000 motor vehicles in the main urban area, or 99.6 automobiles per 1, 000 people, a rate three times higher than the national average, which has become a heavy burden for Wuhan's two major bridges above the Yangtze River.

The city put a light-track system into operation last year. Moreover, a 70-km subway plan has been mapped out with a total investment of 26 billion yuan (some 3.2 billion US dollars) to help ease the transportation bottleneck.

The first two subway projects have been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission and are now open for investments from both at home and abroad, said Miao Yu, Wuhan city committee CPC Secretary.

With a population of over 8 million, Wuhan is the center of five railway tentacles, six expressways, and several highways. The city serves as the gateway to China's hinterlands and is nicknamed the "thoroughfare to nine provinces".

[hkskyline]

World's fastest subway car to debut in South China city
22 November 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

GUANGZHOU, November 22 (CEIS) -- Three high-speed subway cars at 120 km per hour, the fastest ever in the world, are expected to be in service next month in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.

Sources from Guangzhou Metro Corp. (GMC) said that the three new cars just got off the production line last week and are expected to debut on the first section of the newly-built metro line 3 in Guangzhou which is to operate on December 26.

A joint product of China's electric locomotive power -- China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation (CSR) and Germany's Siemens AG, the new car is specially designed for Guangzhou's metro lines, said the GMC.

According to the GMC, each subway car will have only three compartments at the earlier operation period with a total length of 60 meters, which is capable to seat 675 passengers. Each compartment will have six public information screens.

The speed of these cars will reach 80 km per hour during the trial operation period and then to hit 120 km per hour after adjustment, said the GMC.

Guangzhou is busy this year in construction of seven new subways in addition to its original two. By 2010, the subway network in Guangzhou will be about 255 km long.

[Monkey]

^ Impressive!

[hkskyline]

Shenyang Subway Line 1 Begins Construction
25 November 2005
China Industry Daily News

The Shenyang city's Subway Line 1 Project began construction on November 18th, the Xinhua website reported on Tuesday. The project is carried out by the China Rail 9 Group and China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group Co. Ltd, which are under China Railway Engineering Corporation.

The 22.05-kilometer Subway Line 1 has a total investment of 9.48 billion yuan. It starts from the Shenyang Economic Development Area, ends at the Liming Cultural Palace, passing the Shenyang Economic Development Area, Yuhong District, Tiexi District, Heping District, Shenhe District and Dadong District. The Subway Line 1 has 18 states, with maximum speed of 80 Km/h and average speed of 35 Km/h.

The project will last for 54 months, and will be put into use in May 2010. Daily delivery capacity is expected to reach more than 300,000 passengers.

[hkskyline]

Construction of rail route linking to Shanghai World Expo venue underway

SHANGHAI, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Construction of the No. 7 rail line was kicked off in Shanghai, which will be linking to the venue of the 2010 World Expo.

The construction started at the Jing'an Temple station on the 35 km long rail line Friday. Upon completion by the end of 2009, the rail system will shoulder the transportation of one sixth of passenger flow to the Shanghai World Expo., or about 120,000 to 150,000 people in 2010.

There will be 28 stations along the rail line. Twenty-six subway trains are designed to work on the route offering shuttle transportation at an interval of three minutes.

The east China metropolis, with a population of nearly 14 million, is undertaking eight urban rail projects, which will add 389 km-long metro and light-rail lines by 2012.

[hkskyline]

Rail passenger transportation exceeds one billion
28 November 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, November 28 (CEIS) – By November 21, Chinese railway had transported over one billion passengers, the best performance ever reported since 1990, sources of the Ministry of Railway disclosed.

In the 10-day Golden week in May Day this year, Chinese railway transported 38.577 million passengers, 2.126 million more than in the same period of 2004. While the passenger transportation in the 10-day Golden Week in the National Day came to 38.442 million, an increase of 1.842 million. On October 1, the number of passenger transported reached 4.549 million, the highest since the founding of the People’ s Republic of China.

By November 23, Chinese railway had transported 1.006 billion passengers, 29.06 million more or up 3 percent year on year; the average daily passenger transport was 3.075 million, an increase of 98,000 or up 3.3 percent.

[hkskyline]

China railway will carry 143.9 mln passengers during traditional holiday
2 December 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, December 2 (CEIS) -- With Spring Festival still two months away, China is gearing up its railway network for an expected 143.9 million passengers, up 3.1 percent from the same period last year.

China's Ministry of Railways has identified a 40-day period -- from Jan. 14 to Feb. 22 -- as the peak travel season.

Daily passenger flow is expected to reach 3.6 million, an increase of 110,000 from 2004, said the ministry.

Chinese people celebrate the Lunal New Year, or the traditional Spring Festival by returning home for an annual family re-union. Every year the nation's transportation system is pushed to its limits as millions of Chinese flock back home and then return to their jobs over a two-week holiday period.

Trains, popular for their safety record and low costs, are the first choice for the majority of the holiday travelers, including many rural migrant workers and college students.

This year, the Railway Ministry will arrange 216 temporary express trains to cope with the passenger traffic.

[sharpie20]

geez...so many stories not enough time to read :eek2:

[evangelistik]

Has China decided on which railway system it would implement to connect the two cities of Beijing and Shanghai? Last I heard, they were interested in TransRapid, Alstom, and the Shinkansen.

Any news?

[Monkey]

^ According to post #40 they are going for the Japanese and German systems.

[hkskyline]

China city tramlines to reach 5,000 km
7 December 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

SHENZHEN, December 7 (CEIS) -- Twenty five Chinese cities have marked out tramline networks, totaling 5,000 km, with investment topping 800 billion yuan (about 100 billion US dollars), according to sources with the seminar on city tram traffic held in Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province.

Ten cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have already set up tram traffic networks, and all of which have got finance support from the State Development Bank.

The State Development Bank has promised to offer more than 60 billion yuan (7.5 billion US dollars) in loans by November, 2005, as finance support for tram traffic construction.

Seminar participants hold that city tram traffic equipment, in the category of public facilities, produce few economic returns. Experts suggest that Chinese mainland cities can refer to the Hong Kong experience of tramline development.

The seminar was hosted by the State Development Bank and the Hong Kong metro Co.Ltd.

[hkskyline]

China's Planned Urban Rail Transit Mileage Reaches 5,000KM
9 December 2005
SinoCast China Business Daily News

BEIJING, December 09, SinoCast -- At present, 25 Chinese cities have mapped out rail traffic network plans related to totally up to 5,000 kilometers of mileage, which include the lines having been built in ten cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

And the total investment to be involved is estimated to exceed CNY 800 billion, according to a recent symposium on investment and financing pattern for China's urban rail transit construction held in southern city of Shenzhen.

China Development Bank(CDB), one of the country's policy financial institutions, has already provided financing support for urban rail traffic projects to ten cities in these years.

However, because such commonweal facility projects can hardly yield high economic benefit, the domestic investments in this field are still in a huge shortage.

For this problem, the symposium introduced the successful experience in terms of overall planning, comprehensive development and professional management of rail traffic projects well-performed by Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation Limited, who is one of a few underground railway operators in the world being able to make lucrative businesses presently.

[hkskyline]

Direct Beijing-Lhasa train available for travelers next July
12 December 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, December 12 (CEIS) -- It will take travelers only 48 hours by direct train trip from Beijing to Lhasa, capital of west China's Tibet Autonomous Region as of July 1 next year, a railway official said.

Travelers can enjoy the world-class tourist sites along the newly- built line during the 48-hour direct railway trip, including the Qinghai Lake," said Zhang Shuguang, director of the Transportation Bureau with China's Ministry of Railways.

The new railway line will be operational at the Beijing's West Railway Station from July 1, 2006, the official said, adding that key parts of the line, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, had been completed on Oct. 12 this year.

Qinghai-Tibet section of the railway is the world's highest railway, the official said, adding that some 960 kilometers of the tracks were laid at 4,000 meters above sea level, with the highest parts reaching 5,072 meters.

The railway is still the world's longest plateau railroad which extends 1,956 kilometers from Qinghai's provincial capital Xining to Lhasa in Tibet. The Golmud-Lhasa section, completed on Oct. 12 this year, zigzags 1,142 kilometers across the Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges.

"The Beijing-Lhasa train will run at a speed of 160 km per hour on the plain, but will slow down at 120 km per hour when it reaches the Qinghai-Tibet section" Zhang said.

According to the official, the trains running on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway are the most advanced ones in China. All the carriages of the trains are installed with oxygen-supplying equipments and every passenger will be provided with an oxygen mask.

"Passengers will not feel altitude reaction or sickness," he said.

In addition to Beijing, some other Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, will also launch direct railway passenger transportation to Lhasa as of July 1 next year, Zhang said.

[hkskyline]

China's last steam engines stop service
9 December 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

HOHHOT, December 9 (CEIS) -- China's last 27 steam engines stopped service on December 9 at Jitong Railway Section in Hexigten Banner in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Jitong Railway was built in 1995 by the Ministry of Railways and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, stretching for about 1,200 km across the prairie.

At that time, a new steam engine was priced at 300,000 yuan (37, 000 US dollars) and demanded an annual expense of 900,000 yuan (111, 000 dollars). In comparison, an internal-combustion engine cost 4 million yuan (493,800 dollars) together with an annual expense of 2.7 million yuan (333,300 dollars), said Wang Huichuan, general manager of Jitong Railway Company.

Due to limited funding and market capacity, the company chose to purchase steam engines. It owned 126 steam engines in prime time.

In the past ten years, the steam engines raked in remarkable income for the company and the annual revenue increased from 750 million yuan (92.59 million dollars) to 1 billion yuan (123.46 million dollars), Wang said.

Steam engines, born about 180 years ago, were regarded as important symbols of modern industrialization, but they were inevitably substituted by internal-combustion engines with modern technology development, said Su Nan, deputy board chairman of Jitong Railway Company.

China's last steam engines were produced in 1986 with 20 years of service term. The retired engines will be used in tourism in the following three years, according to the company.

[zergcerebrates]

World's fastest subway car to debut in South China city
22 November 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

GUANGZHOU, November 22 (CEIS) -- Three high-speed subway cars at 120 km per hour, the fastest ever in the world, are expected to be in service next month in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.

Sources from Guangzhou Metro Corp. (GMC) said that the three new cars just got off the production line last week and are expected to debut on the first section of the newly-built metro line 3 in Guangzhou which is to operate on December 26.

A joint product of China's electric locomotive power -- China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation (CSR) and Germany's Siemens AG, the new car is specially designed for Guangzhou's metro lines, said the GMC.

According to the GMC, each subway car will have only three compartments at the earlier operation period with a total length of 60 meters, which is capable to seat 675 passengers. Each compartment will have six public information screens.

The speed of these cars will reach 80 km per hour during the trial operation period and then to hit 120 km per hour after adjustment, said the GMC.

Guangzhou is busy this year in construction of seven new subways in addition to its original two. By 2010, the subway network in Guangzhou will be about 255 km long.


By 2010 will they have more length than that of HK metro? I really have no clue the overall length of HK's network.

[philip]

According to the official, the trains running on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway are the most advanced ones in China. All the carriages of the trains are installed with oxygen-supplying equipments and every passenger will be provided with an oxygen mask. .

That is so wicked COOL !!!

[hkskyline]

Guangzhou Subway Fares Set to Drop
By Zheng Caixiong
13 December 2005
China Daily

GUANGZHOU: Subway fares could be cut in the Guangdong provincial capital in the coming months.

Guangzhou Municipal Price Bureau held a public meeting yesterday morning to discuss prices for the metro service in Guangzhou.

Proposals that would favour people travelling longer distances were agreed, according to Lan Lan, an official with Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Price.

Guangzhou Metro Corporation had offered three proposals for its shake-up of fares earlier this year amid growing calls from residents to cut the price of tickets. All three plans would offer cheaper prices overall to their underground passengers.

The preferred third option still has to wait for final approval from Guangzhou municipal government, Lan told China Daily yesterday.

She said her bureau transferred the result of the hearing to upper authorities for final review and approval after yesterday' meeting.

According to the third plan, metro passengers will pay an initial 2 yuan (US$25 cents) within 4 kilometres and increase 1 yuan (US$12 cents) for every 4 kilometres after that.

Fares will increase by 1 yuan (US$12 cents) for every 6 kilometres after travelling 12 kilometres, and 1 yuan (US$12 cents) for every 8 kilometres after 24 kilometres.

"That indicates the longer distance passengers will take, the more preferential prices will be given to them after the new plan is introduced in the future," Lan said.

Under the new system, passengers will pay only 5 yuan (US$62 cents) to complete the current 13-station Metro Line One a 1 yuan (US$12 cents) reduction from the current fare.

Guangzhou Metro Line began in 1997 and runs from Fangcun District in the western part of the city, crossing the Pearl River, to end in Guangzhou Tianhe Railway Station.

More than 100 government officials, experts and local residents' representatives attended the hearing yesterday. They included Shen Zhichao, director of Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Price and the senior executives from Guangzhou Metro Corporation.

Many local residents yesterday praised the proposed cuts.

Wu Shanyin, a housewife, said Guangzhou's metro fares could be reduced because they have been higher than those in Beijing and Shanghai.

"The monthly income of Guangzhou residents has not been more than their friends and relatives in Beijing and Shanghai," Wu told China Daily.

Hu Zhaoguang, an office worker, said the price reduction would benefit both the metro company and passengers.

He hoped the metro system would further improve after the fare cuts.

Hu, 39, who works in a foreign-funded company, mainly uses the underground to reach his office in Tianhe District, a new business centre in Guangzhou.

One executive at Guangzhou Metro Corportation, who refused to be named, said profits would not be hit by the reduction as more passengers would be encouraged to use the subway.

There are currently two metro lines in Guangzhou.

Metro Line Two, which started service in 2002 and runs from the south to north, connects with the Metro Line One that operates from east to west in Gongyuanqian.

The city's metro service attracts more than 1.5 million passengers every year.

Guangzhou municipal government plans to construct up to seven metro lines to form a comprehensive underground network in the coming years to try to reduce congestion on the roads.

It would see the total length of the city's metro tracks reach more than 500 kilometres.

[hkskyline]

Beijing-Shanghai Railway ready for speed-raise shortening trip to 7 hours
13 December 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, December 13 (CEIS) -- Beijing railway authority said here on December 13 that it has finished the renovation of the Beijing-Shanghai railway and got ready for next year's speed raise.

Sources from the No. 6 Bureau of the China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) that the tacks of 200-kilometer Beijing section of the Beijing-Shanghai railway has all been replaced by Tuesday morning, increasing the speed to 200 kilometers per hour from 160 kilometers per hour.

China plans to launch its sixth speed-raise in national railways in 2006, a marked step to increase its transport capacity in the railway sector.

Renovation of the 1462-km Beijing-Shanghai railway, one of the busiest in China, was started in May this year, with most switches and tracks replaced to meet the demand for accelerated speed trains.

The CREC said the new round speed raise next year will shorten the trip from Beijing to Shanghai from the current 13.5 hours to 7 hours.

[mopc]

I especially liked that Beijing-Lhasa train!!! What a journey that must be!

[hkskyline]

MTR Expected to Participate in Wuhan Subway Operation
21 December 2005

WUHAN, December 21, SinoCast -- Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, Central China, wants to invite Hong Kong's subway operator Mass Transit Railway Corp. (MTR)to participate in investment, construction and operation of Wuhan Subway as the first phase project of the No.1 Line of Wuhan Railway Traffic has to suffer a huge loss of CNY 350,000.

Wuhan completed construction of Phase I project of the No.1 Line of the light rail with a total length of 10 kilometers in July 2004 and planned to reach daily passenger throughput of 210,000 people time.

However, daily passenger throughput reaches just more than 10,000 people time every day. Total costs on operation of Phase I project of the No.1 Line of the light rail are approximately CNY 550,000. Phase II project of the No.1 Line of the light rail started construction on December 15, 2005.

MTR, the world's only profitable subway operator, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Wuhan Municipal Government this May and has spent CNY 15 million on early-stage market research.

The Wuhan subway project, with a total investment of more than CNY 26 billion, has been agreed by the State Development and Reform Commission, China's macro-economy regulator, and is now waiting for the approval from the State Council, the country's cabinet.

Yin Zengtao, vice secretary of Wuhan Municipal Committee, told journalists that No.2 Line of the Wuhan Subway through the Yangtze River would start construction firstly.

Wuhan obtained fiscal revenues of over CNY 30 billion in 2004 and its fiscal revenues cannot support subway construction. Demands for investments in urban infrastructure construction sharply rise in recent years. Investments in urban infrastructure construction reached CNY 3.8 billion in 2003 and CNY 10 billion in 2004 and are expected to arrive at CNY 1.3 billion.

The city started construction of more than 400 projects in 2004 and investments in the Tianxingzhou Bridge and cross-river tunnels hit over CNY 1 billion.

China's subway construction is now in full swing. The Chinese government plans to build 5000-kilometer subway lines with total investments of more than CNY 800 billion in 25 cities.

Currently, ten cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen own already-built subways throughout the country. China Development Bank has extended loans to domestic cities to support their subway construction. The bank has promised to provide loans of more than CNY 60 billion and had extended loans of over CNY 40 billion by the end of this November.

Urban railway traffic such as light rail vehicles is commonweal facilities not intended to earn money and needs huge investments. Industry analysts suggested that domestic subway construction should learn from Hong Kong subway construction and operation.

MTR reached an agreement on January 15, 2004 to build and operate Shenzhen Phase II of the No.4 Line for 30 years. The 20.5-kilometer No.4 Line will run from Huanggang, on the boundary between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, to the center of Longhua New Town.

The test segment of the second phase project of Shenzhen Subway No.4 Line started construction on November 4, 2005. The No.4 Line is a north-to-south line with 15 stations will be a main route between Hong Kong and Shenzhen in the future. MTR makes a total investment of CNY 6 billion in the Phase II project.

(USD 1 = CNY 8.0730)

[hkskyline]

China's electrified railway mileage ranks world's third
29 December 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, December 29 (CEIS) -- China's electrified railway mileage has surpassed 20,000 kilometers, ranking the third in the world after Russia and Germany, the Beijing Daily said in a report published on December 28.

China achieved the goal with the recent completion of a 625-km electrified railway line which links Chongqing in southwest China and Huaihua in central China's Hunan Province.

By the end of 2005, China has completed construction of 43 electrified railway lines with a total length of 20,132 km, the report said.

China began to build its first electrified railway line, the Baoji-Fengzhou railway line, in 1958.

[hkskyline]

Subway expansion completed in Tianjin, trial operation due next March
29 December 2005
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

TIANJIN, December 29 (CEIS) -- The No. 1 subway expansion project in Tianjin, the largest port city in north China, which was completed on December 28, will begin trial operation on March 28, 2006.

A test run was conducted on the newly completed subway tracks on December 28, sources from Tianjin Subway Corporation said.

Tianjin is China's second city built with a subway system. But because of low construction standards, the old subway failed to play a key role in diverting passenger flows after it was put into traffic in 1984.

The expansion project, which began in November 2002, was carried out on the basis of the outdated 7.4 km subway section. With a budget of 7.8 billion yuan (about 962 million U.S. dollars), the expanded subway is 26.2 km long and is built with 22 stops, including eight elevated open-air stops and one ground stop. Each stop is installed with automatic ticket vending machines.

A corporate spokesman predicted the expanded subway system, which connects six administrative districts from north to south, would haul 48,100 journeys an hour at most.

According to him, Tianjin will plan to build six new tracked routes in the years to come and by the year of 2050, the city will have a tracked transport network with its length totaling 154 km.

At present, the city's second and third subway projects, with a combined budget of 20 billion yuan (2.47 billion U.S. dollars), are under preparation.

Subway service is now available in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, as well as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, both in south China's Guangdong Province.

[mopc]

China is going fast!!!

[hkskyline]

China to invest $20 bln in railways in 2006

BEIJING, Jan 6 (Reuters) - China plans to invest 160 billion yuan ($19.8 billion) in railway construction in 2006, but is still likely to face problems with transportation bottlenecks over the next five years, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

"China's large-scale railway construction will boom over the next five years. Shortages in transportation capacity will remain and development of the transportation market is not mature," Xinhua quoted Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun as saying.

However the ministry would make transporting key commodities, such as coal, oil, grain and fertilizer, a priority.

It also planned to raise the speed of trains for the sixth time in October, it said.

China's rail and shipping networks have struggled to keep up with the country's fast-growing economy, which expanded 9.8 percent in 2004 according to recently revised figures.

Foreign companies such as France's Alstom, German conglomerate Siemens AG, Canada's Bombardier Inc. and Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries are all vying to sell railway equipment and expertise to China.

($1=8.063 Yuan)

[hkskyline]

Shanghai Metro Line No. 4 opens, few riders
1 January 2006
Shanghai Daily

Metro Line No. 4 went into operation yesterday, connecting the city's first three metro lines and providing a new link between Pudong and Puxi.

About 30,000 people took the line on the first day of operations, said the Shanghai Metro Operation Company.

The figure was far below the expected passenger flow of 150,000 people a day, but officials attributed it to the new line's late opening at 8:45am, well after the start of morning rush hour.

Starting today, the line will run on a normal schedule with the first trains heading out at around 6am.

Metro operators also noted that many companies were closed yesterday for the New Year, which cut into passenger numbers.

Besides, many commuters still didn't know about the new line and are unfamiliar with its route.

Despite the low number of commuters, many said they are thrilled the line is finally up and running.

"It will be easy for me to go to work and I won't be delayed by ground traffic congestion," said Hong Yan, who works on Jiangsu Road.

[hkskyline]

China Rail Company Plans Express to Tibet
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
9 January 2006

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Banking on the appetite of foreign and newly wealthy Chinese tourists for adventure, with five-star amenities, a Shanghai-based company plans to set up luxury express railway lines to Tibet's Himalayan capital, Lhasa.

The trains, equipped with king-sized beds, butler service and oxygen canisters to combat effects of the high altitude, will run from major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, Wei Yumei, director of the publicity department of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co. said Monday.

The luxury trains are to run along a recently completed high-altitude route between Xining, in western China's Qinghai province, and Lhasa.

Wei said that details of the plan could not yet be disclosed because the 50-50 joint venture between her company and Shanghai-based private equity fund TZGPartners, dubbed RailPartners, has not yet been formally approved by the government.

"Yes, we are cooperating with RailPartners on this project," Wei said. "The project is due to be finished in 2007."

The trains will have to travel through Xining, the terminus of the 1,220-mile high-altitude line that is Lhasa's only rail link. Completed in October, the 27 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) line is due to begin test runs in July.

TZG Partners is a private fund set up by foreign investors focused on starting new businesses in the leisure, travel and real estate industries.

RailPartners' aim, according to the company's Web site, is to create the "most magnificent train" in the world, offering passengers luxury on a par with that found in the best hotels, along with stunning scenery. Three trains are to accommodate 88 passengers each -- 88 being a lucky number symbolizing wealth, according to Chinese tradition.

The trains, to be built by BSP, a joint venture between China and Canada's Bombardier, are to be designed by SURV, a Shanghai design firm involved in a variety of projects including boutique hotels and yachts, it says.

The Hong Kong newspaper The Standard reported Monday that RailPartners plans to use a $130 million loan to help finance the project. Wei refused comment on that report.

The route to Lhasa is one of the world's highest railways, crossing mountain passes up to 16,500 feet high, with about 80 percent of the line above 13,000 feet.

Earlier reports said the trains would be sealed like aircraft to help protect passengers from the effects of the high altitude. The oxygen canisters would be used to help passengers breathe more easily.

Travelers to Tibet now must travel by air or over mountain highways often blocked by landslides or snow.

The railway is intended to promote trade, tourism and investment in the region, helping to ease poverty in one of China's poorest regions.

It has provoked criticism, however, from activists who contend that ethnic Chinese migrants are more likely to benefit than local Tibetans.

[hkskyline]

China plans high-speed Beijing-Shanghai rail line: report

BEIJING, Jan 9 (AFP) - China's railway ministry has given priority to the construction of a Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway line in its five-year plan from 2006-2010, state media reported Monday.

"During the period, the Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway will take priority in the construction of passenger railways," the Beijing News quoted Rail Minister Liu Zhijun as saying at a planning meeting.

The project has not received final approval from the central government although the green light could come soon, the paper reported.

Trains on the new line are expected to travel between 200 and 300 kilometers (120 and 180 miles) an hour, the paper said. The current rail line is 1,462-kilometers long.

It is unlikely the railway line will use German magnetic levitation technology, but other imported technology is still under discussion, the paper said.

China aims to have its railroads account for a significant share of its public transport for decades to come, and has announced plans to spend 250 billion dollars over the next 15 years to renovate and expand its network.

Liu said that up to 185 billion of those dollars would be spent in the coming five years, the paper said.

Other lines to be built or renovated during the next five years include lines between Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Harbin, Shenyang-Dalian and Lianyungang-Gansu, he said.

Late last year, China inked a 1.3 billion-euro (1.5 billion dollar) contract for 60 high speed trains from German engineering giant Siemens.

It also reportedly agreed to buy 60 high speed Hayate-model bullet trains from a Japanese consortium led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

The new trains are expected to be put into use as early as 2008 and spearhead China's efforts to build a faster railway system.

Germany, Japan, France and the United States have been engaged in high-stakes lobbying efforts for years to sell trains and rail technology to China.

[hkskyline]

Chinese vice premier stresses railway construction in coming five years
9 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, January 9 (CEIS) -- Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju said here on January 7 that China will step up the construction of railways in the 2006-2010 period to address the transportation bottleneck of the economy.

Huang said at the national railways working conference that the problem of inadequate railway capacity is expected to be relieved in the coming five years.

Sources with the railways ministry said that China will not only construct more railway lines during this period, but also plan for large-scale upgrading of train speeds.

Compared with other means of transportation, Huang said, railways consume less energy but have larger capacity. As the country is facing an energy shortage, railway development should be given priority.

China said on on January 6 that it will input 160 billion yuan (19. 7 billion US dollars) on railway construction in 2006. Huang said the country will also push the reform of railway financing.

[hkskyline]

ADB to help China draw up railway system reforms
11 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

MANILA, January 11 (CEIS) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on January 10 said it would conduct a study to help China draw up a policy reform plan for the country's railway passenger and freight transport through a technical assistance grant of 400,000 U.S. dollars.

The ADB said in a statement that although the passenger and freight transport has continued to grow rapidly over the last two decades, reaching 9 percent and 7.4 percent respectively between 1978 and 2004, China's railway system has lost ground to other modes of transport.

"In recent years, despite significant progress and notable achievements, China's railways have been unable to meet the increasing demand for passenger and freight transportation," says Manmohan Parkash, an ADB Transport Specialist.

To remove constraints facing the railways system and to expand the network, the Chinese government has, under its five-year plan for 2001-2005, envisaged building some 6,000 km of new lines to previously unserved areas, providing 3,000 km of double lines, electrifying 5,000 km of key lines to boost capacity, and increasing operating speeds on 5,000 km of lines, the bank said.

According to the ADB, during 2003-2007, investments in capital construction for the Chinese railways sector are expected to reach450 billion Yuan (about 55.8 billion U.S. dollars).

"Given the enormous investment requirements and the need for a sound administrative environment, ADB's new TA will help review the passenger and freight demand structure and assist in preparinga reform plan to meet these challenges," Parkash said.

The bank said that the study will look at the conflicting rolesof meeting social obligations and making profits, competition withother transport modes, and the impacts of urbanization and economic development on transport.

It will also look at the possibility of innovative passenger and freight transport projects or products to enhance the competitiveness of the railway sector and improve customer satisfaction, it added.

[hkskyline]

Internet access to be available on Chinese trains
11 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, January 11 (CEIS) -- Multimedia information and Internet access will be available on most Chinese trains in the coming years as high-tech information systems are installed.

The Beijing Railways Bureau said here on January 11 that the bureau has started a trial operation of such systems in several of its railways.

According to the bureau, modern information systems, including a multimedia terminals and LAN Internet service, have already been installed on a group of trains running on over 30 railways.

Information systems were listed as a key project launched by the Ministry of Railways and Qinghua University.

Qinghua University and Beijing-based Shenzhou Yipin technology company have jointly founded an institute on the study of media information which will focus on China's railway system.

[hkskyline]

China launches 301 pairs of temporary direct trains for peak travel season
16 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, January 16 (CEIS) -- A record 301 pairs of temporary trains will be launched on China's railways for the peak travel season, according to the Ministry of Railways here on January 13.

Hu Yadong, vice minister of Railways, said at a press conference on national transportation for the lunar new year that this is 59 pairs more than that for last year's festival, up 24 percent.

China has identified a 40-day period -- from Jan. 14 to Feb. 22 -- as the peak travel season, while the Spring festival falls on Jan. 29.

People around China celebrate the Spring Festival as a special occasion for family reunions. For years, the nation's transportation system has been strained during the season, as millions of migrant workers and other Chinese flock back home and then return to the work place in just two weeks.

The ministry said as the lunar Spring Festival comes not more than one month after the New Year's day, most of the Chinese, including students, migrant workers and other staffs will visit their homes in this short period.

During the 40 days, the ministry predicted that a total of 141 million people will take trains, up 3.1 percent year-on-year, among which direct passengers account for 63.75 million, up by 7 percent.

The ministry predicted that the passenger flow will get its before- festival peak of 3.55 million from Jan. 25 to 26, 130,000 passengers more than the same period last year, up 3.8 percent.

After the festival, the traffic volume of migrant workers, travelers and short-distance passengers will also increase for the reason that most other people have to go to work before the eighth or sixteenth day of the lunar new year.

[hkskyline]

China heavily invests in railway construction in 2006
16 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, January 16 (CEIS) – China will invest 160 billion yuan in railway construction in 2006, according to the Ministry of Railways.

It is learned that the investment will go to the construction of 87 new projects and 38 continued projects, the tracklaying of 376- kilometer-long new railway lines and 1,028-kilometer-long double- track railway lines, and the completion of electric railway lines with a length of 3,860 kilometers.

The Ministry of Railways said that priority will be given to the intercity rail line between Beijing and Tianjin, the trial operation of Qinghai-Tibet Railway and the opening of the electric railway from Beijing to Shanghai, ensure the capacity expansion projects of the Dalian-Qinhuangdao and Houma-Yueshan railway lines, and the completion of the sixth speed acceleration of passenger trains.

The ministry will undertake 24 new and continued projects for passenger transportation lines in 2006.

[hkskyline]

Beijing railways receive Spring Festival passenger flow peak
26 January 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, January 26 (CEIS) -- Beijing railways expect a soar of daily passenger flow surpassing 300,000 people on January 26, the highest during the Spring Festival rush season.

Beijing West Railway Station, one of the city's two major railway stations, expects 180,000 passengers who embark their homebound journey from the Chinese capital.

The municipal railway administration plans to launch 62 temporary trains for the peak, said the Beijing News.

The tickets for long-distance trains have already been sold out and those for short-distance trains are in great demand.

The railway station has strengthened control of its waiting room and organized employees to help local police maintain public order.

In addition, the station has opened more than 240 ticket counters to provide 24-hour service.

The other major railway station, namely Beijing Railway Station, has put ahead the check-in time by 20 minutes and opened emergency routeways to cope with passenger rush.

[hkskyline]

Report: Shanghai may extend maglev line to connect airports
24 January 2006

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Shanghai plans to extend its underused magnetic levitation railway to link the city's two airports, a report said Tuesday, citing government officials.

The state-run Shanghai Daily said the city authorities hope to get permission from the central government to extend the high-speed line, which runs to the city's eastern suburbs from its Pudong International Airport, to Hongqiao Airport, in the western suburbs.

The plan would allow travellers to move from one airport to the other -- a distance of about 55 kilometers (35 miles) -- in only about 15 minutes, it cited Xu Zheng, president of the government-owned Shanghai Construction Group, as saying.

However, a spokesman for the company cast doubt on the proposal, saying he believed Xu had only said there was a "possibility" for such a project.

"It was just a possibility," said Zhang Lin, spokesman for the Shanghai Construction Group. "There is no approval from the central government at all."

The current US$1.2 billion rail line is a showcase for Shanghai: the world's only commercial high-speed maglev, with a top speed of 430 kilometers per hour (270 miles per hour). But it runs well under capacity, both because ticket prices are relatively high and because its terminus is awkwardly located and lacks convenient public transport links.

Officials earlier denied reports that the government had approved plans to use German-developed maglev technology to link Shanghai with Hangzhou, a city to the southwest.

The Shanghai Daily said the extended maglev line would run from the current terminus in Pudong through the site of the Shanghai World Expo, planned for 2010.

Routes and other details have not yet been decided, the report cited Xu as saying. It said officials would not give cost estimates for what would be a multibillion-dollar project.

[hkskyline]

About 678 million passengers take Beijing subway in 2005
2 January 2006
Xinhua News Agency

BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese capital witnessed a new record in subway traffic in 2005, with the total passenger flow growing 11.8 percent year on year to 678 million.

The average daily transportation volume of Beijing's subway system reached 1.86 million in 2005, according to Monday's Beijing Youth Daily.

The Beijing Municipal Subway Operation Corporation, which runs the subway system, was quoted as promising better services this year.

Beijing now has 54 km of subway under operation and plans to build another 140 km in the near future.

[hkskyline]

Chinese railways carry more direct long-distance passengers
9 February 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, February 9 (CEIS)-- An increasing number of Chinese long- distance travelers chose railways as the means for their return to work places after the traditional Spring Festival family reunion.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Railways, the Chinese railways carried some 1.956 million direct long-distance passengers on Feb. 8 alone, some 30,000 more than the passenger flow on the peak day of last year.

The ministry said more long-distance passengers were expected to take trains on February 9.

On Feb. 8, which witnessed a total passenger flow of 4.181 million, the ministry launched 712 temporary trains, 414 of which were direct long-distance ones.

By Feb. 8, the daily railway passenger flow had remained above the four million mark for seven consecutive days. The number of direct long-distance travelers has kept growing since it reached 1.8 million on Feb. 3.

During the peak travel days around the Spring Festival, or the Chinese lunar new year that fell on Jan. 29 this year, the ministry suspended a large number of short-distance trains and launched more long-distance ones.

[Cantonese]

http://www.52bus.com/bbs/UploadFile/2006-2/200623162625480.jpg

http://www.52bus.com/bbs/UploadFile/2006-2/200623162659130.jpg

http://www.52bus.com/bbs/UploadFile/2006-2/200623162827975.jpg

[hkth]

Xinhua news:
Railways carry 103 mln passengers in 28 days
2006-02-11 22:44:36

BEIJING, Feb. 11(Xinhuanet)-- More than 103 million passengers were carried by the country's railways from Jan. 14 to Feb. 10, reported the Ministry of Railways on Saturday.

Beginning Jan. 29 this year, the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, is a time for family reunions. The Spring Festival travel rush began on Jan. 14 and will be end on Feb. 11.

About 44.9 million passengers used medium-range or long-distance trains, up 9.3 percent year-on-year.

To handle the passenger traffic, the ministry brought in 14,124temporary trains, up 19 percent compared with the similar period last year.

Feb. 4, the seventh day of the new year, witnessed a total passenger flow of 4.34 million, the largest number for a single day.

The railways carried some 1.956 million passengers on medium-range and long-distance trips on Feb. 8, some 30,000 more than the peak day of last year.

By Feb. 8, the daily railway passenger flow had remained over 4million for seven consecutive days.

On average the railways carried about 3.502 million passengers per day leading up to New Year's Day, up 10 percent year-on-year. About 3.882 million passengers took railways since New Year's Day, the same as last year.

[hkskyline]

China's railways report passenger increase

BEIJING, Feb 12, 2006 (AFP) - China's extensive railway network saw a 3.3 percent increase in ridership last year, transporting 1.15 billion passengers, despite growing competition from planes and buses, state media said Sunday.

The Ministry of Railways said the passenger load marked a 10-year high, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Of the total, about 434.5 million passengers took long-distance trips, up 6.9 percent year-on-year.

Railways also transported 2.6 billion tons of freight, up 8.2 percent compared with 2004.

This included 1.3 billion tons of coal, a 10.8 percent increase from last year, and 153 million tons of oil, a 7.5 percent increase.

Trains remain the primary form of transportation in China despite a booming aviation industry that sees many more people flying than before.

[hkskyline]

Beijing to continue expanding public transport as priority
13 February 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, February 13 (CEIS) -- Beijing will continue to expand public transport as a priority during the 11th Five-year Program ( 2006-2010).

Information from the municipal commission of communications said Beijing will refurbish 4,615 old buses now in service and add 5,000 new ones, bringing the total number of public buses in service to 24, 000 by2010, with air-conditioned public buses making up more than 63 percent of the total.

In the meantime, 324 old subway train cars will be replaced with new ones and the fleet of subway cars will be increased by 84 new ones, said the sources.

More investments will be made in the transport sector in the years to come, and investment in public transport and in the overall transport infrastructure will be raised from 35 percent to 50 percent.

Greater efforts will be made in improving the road network, developing rail transport and large-capacity public transport. The total mileage of roads for public transport in Beijing will amount to 300 km by the year 2010.

By 2008, the carrying efficiency of roads at rush hours in Beijing will be improved by 40 percent from last year's level.

The city will also spend 5.16 billion yuan (about 637 million U.S. dollars) to improve transport infrastructure in its rural areas this year.

Public bus service will be extended to all rural villages in the suburban areas of Beijing in three years, the source said.

[UD2]

Time for a couple pix


http://www.trainsimchina.com/non-cgi/lb5000/usr/12/12_72.jpg

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[hkskyline]

China Hastens Subway Approval

NANJING, February 14, SinoCast -- More than 20 Chinese cities including Xi'an, Dalian, Chongqing, Qingdao and Suzhou are now waiting for approval from the State Council, the all- powerful cabinet, to start railway traffic construction.

Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, Eastern China, was approved by the State Council by the end of December 2005 for its railway traffic program.

It plans to build five subway lines including the No.2 Line, Nanyan Line of No.1 Line, Dongyan Line of No.2 Line, Xiyan Line of No.2 Line and No.3 Line. The five lines are 119.3 kilometers long and with an investment budget of CNY 45.313 billion. Total length of subway lines to be built recently is 97.6 kilometers long. The city's No.1 Line started operation on December 3, 2005.

Shanghai also won the go-ahead for its high-speed track traffic program and Hangzhou, Shenyang, Harbin and Chengdu were also agreed to construct their subways in 2005.

Shanghai intends to complete construction of subway networks and to increase length to 400 kilometers from the existing 123 kilometers within five years. The subway network will include 13 lines and 237 stations. The proportion of track traffic to the city's total passenger flow will be raised to 35% to 40% from about 10% currently.

Zhu Husheng, vice president for Shanghai Shentong Metro Co., Ltd., pointed out that overseas cities with developed subway networks like Now York, with a subway length of 421 kilometers, and London, with 408 kilometers, spent more than 100 years completing their networks.

The Chinese government used to be cautious o f subway construction owing to huge investments and has suspended approval of track traffic projects respectively in 1996 and 2002. It nonetheless lifted the ban on subway projects last year to ease urban transportation pressure.

Ten cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Tianjin, Nanjing, Chongqing, Changchun and Dalian had completed construction of 420-kilometer railway traffic by June 2005.

China's railway traffic construction now hits boom times and the state has become the world's largest urban railway traffic market. Over 30 cities each with a population of more than one million have started construction of railway traffic or have been preparing for construction.

About 14 cities have submitted their railway traffic network program and plan to construct 55 lines, about 1500 kilometers long, with a total investment of CNY 500 billion including an estimated investment of more than CNY 200 billion during the Eleventh Five-year Plan ending 2010, according to China Communications and Transportation Association.

Chongqing, vowing to build the first subway in western China, has made full preparation for subway construction although it has not got the approval from the State Council. The city reserved certain underground room for its subway project several years ago.

Industry analysts said that China's railway traffic construction was in full swing presently. The Chinese government plans to build 5,000-kilometer track traffic lines with total investments of more than CNY 800 billion in 25 cities.

Urban railway traffic such as light rail vehicle is commonweal facilities not intended to earn money and needs huge investments. Industry experts suggested that domestic subway construction should learn from Hong Kong's experience. The city's subway operator Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Corp. is profitable to operate subway projects.

(USD 1 = CNY 8.04)

[hkskyline]

Shanghai - Power problem delays subway
15 February 2006
Shanghai Daily

Thousands of commuters were delayed for up to 30 minutes yesterday morning after a power problem shut down part of Metro Line No. 1 in one direction.

The line was out of service from the Shanghai Railway Station to the Gong Kang Road Station from 6:25am to 7:04am, according to Shanghai Metro Operation Co Ltd.

Most of the affected stations are located along the northern extension of the line, and the power problem only shut down trains travelling north.

Thousands of morning commuters were affected, leading to large crowds at several of the stations, according to several passengers who were on the scene.

At least 2,500 passengers were stuck at the Pengpu Xincun Station, according to station workers.

Metro officials said they gave refunds to at least 500 people during the delay.

The breakdown was caused by a power grid malfunction near the Gongkang Road Station, Metro officials said.

Police arranged 15 buses to take commuters from the Pengpu Xincun Station to the Shanghai Railway Station, a public transport hub.

"The trains were so crowded that the commuters' faces were pressed against the glass windows," said Tao Hengzhi, who was on one of the trains.

[chepillin]

wow, china needs lots of infrastructure because is the most populates country in the world.

[hkskyline]

China home-made high-speed maglev train to be trialled in Shanghai this July
16 February 2006

SHANGHAI (AFX) - China's first home-made high-speed magnetic levitation (maglev) train will be put through its first trial run in Shanghai in July this year, said Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co Ltd (CAC), a unit of China Aviation Industry Corp.

Production on the train, which is expected to run at a speed of 500 km per hour, started at the end of September last year.

The train has a designed speed of 500 km per hour and can carry 90 passengers. CAC possesses complete independent intellectual property rights of this project, a company official said.

Shanghai currently has one maglev line, which runs 30 kilometers from the international airport to a stop near a subway line in Pudong. That line, which cost 8.9 bln yuan to build, opened three years ago and was designed and built by engineering giants Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp AG.

Shanghai is planning to extend the line from its current terminus to the domestic airport, although details on the route and cost have not yet been decided.

China is also planning a high-speed link between Shanghai and Beijing, although it is reportedly considering technology other than maglev.

The country has announced plans to spend 250 bln usd over the next 15 years to renovate and expand its network.

[hkskyline]

City Subway Spree Poured Cold Water

SHANGHAI, February 15, SinoCast -- Industry experts suggested that the Chinese government should be cautious to approve subway projects in the Yangtze River Delta, one of China's economic hubs, owning to huge investments and difficult operation.

Statistics revealed that Singapore paid the equivalent of CNY 332 million on average to build one-kilometer track rail at the beginning of 1990s. Singapore had three urban track traffic rails, namely, 19-kilometer subway, 44.8-kilometer elevated line and 13.2-kilometer ground line.

Mexico spent equal to CNY 246 million on average to build one-kilometer subway. The subway is 23.7 kilometers long. Tokyo spent CNY 754 million on average on one-kilometer line of its most modern Subway No.11 Line.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou paid CNY 600 million to CNY 800 million on one-kilometer line of their subways in the 1990s. Chinese cities now are expected to invest more in subway construction.

China plans to construct 55 lines, about 1500 kilometers long, with a total investment of CNY 500 billion including an estimated investment of more than CNY 200 billion during the period of the Eleventh Five-year Plan, according to statistics from China Communications and Transportation Association.

An insider told journalists that only Nanjing and Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta submitted their applications to win an approval for their subway projects and other cities such as Suzhou and Changzhou had not applied.

Lin Fang, a director for the Changzhou Municipal Development & Reform Commission, said in an interview that the city was now doing the preparation work. Suzhou Municipal Development & Reform Commission also said that the city was now in the early stage of doing research.

Shanghai has been approved to complete track traffic network construction from 2005 to 2012 to ease transportation pressure in 2010, when the World Expo is held there.

Shanghai is set to newly build eight railway traffic lines with a total length of 389 kilometers during the period and will complete construction of 11 lines, 400 kilometers long, by 2010, and 13 lines, 510 kilometers long, by 2012.

A track traffic network will be available in Shanghai by 2010 and 80% of residents within the inner-belt way can take subway or light rail at the stations 600 meters far from their houses. The city's track traffic system will transport almost 8 million people daily, accounting for around 40% of total passenger flow.

The city will make an investment of CNY 15 billion in track traffic projects this year. It must finish civil structure construction of three subway lines by 2007 and another four by 2009. The No.7 Line, which has been approved, is 35 kilometers long and goes through Baoshan District, Putuo District, Jiang'an District, Xuhui District and Pudong New District.

Track traffic construction has been a focus of Jiangsu Province's Eleventh Five-year Plan as well. Jiangsu will newly build 450-kilometer inter-city rail and approximately 100- kilometer light rail in the following five years.

The Shanghai-Nanjing intercity rail will be the most important project and the Nanjing-Hangzhou intercity rail will be started as quickly as possible. The program of the Nanjing- Yangzhou-Zhenjiang intercity rail will be launched.

Jiangsu would like to accelerate its pace of completing Nanjing Subway No.2 Line and to launch Suzhou Subway No.1 Line, Changzhou Subway No.1 Line and Nanjing Subway No.3 Line.

(USD 1 = CNY 8.04)

[hkskyline]

2 New Passenger Railway Lines Receives Approval to Be Established
17 February 2006
China Industry Daily News

Two new passenger railway lines, including the Beijing-Shijiazhuang line and Tianjin-Qinhuangdao line recently received approvals from the National Development and Reform Commission to be built, the Shanghai Securities News reported today.The Beijing-Shijiazhuang line is a section of the Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen passenger railway line, with a total investment of 25.1 billion yuan. The 278-kilometer railway line starts from the Beijing West Railway station, passing Zhuozhou and Baoding cities in Hebei province, and ends at Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei.

The Tianjin-Qinhuangdao line is an important part of the Beijing-Shenyang-Harbin passenger railway line. The new railway line will total 245 kilometers in length, with an investment of about 20.7 billion yuan. It connects the Tianjin West Railway station and the Qinhuangdao Railway Station, passing the Tangshan and Beidaihe city in Hebei province.

[hkskyline]

Bank of China Provides Loan to Beijing Subway

BEIJING Feb 23 Asia Pulse - The Beijing branch of Bank of China recently won a public bidding to provide a 25-year loan amounting to 8 billion yuan to the first-phase project of Beijing No. 10 subway line.

Under the contract, the interest rate of the loan with 12 years of grace period will be the most preferential one under the current monetary policy. The loan includes the foreign exchange loan quota of US$150 million.

According to Beijing's blueprint, Beijing will construct a subway traffic network with a total length of 270 kilometres by the end of 2010, requiring a total investment of 67 billion yuan (US$8.3 billion).

[davidwei01]

Posted to Travel forum, enjoy!
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=324206

[hkskyline]

China to use own technology for high-speed rail

BEIJING, March 9, 2006 (AFP) - China has decided to use domestic technology instead of international firms to construct a much-anticipated high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai, state press reported Thursday.

"Our technology is a re-innovation on the basis of assimilating advanced technologies of foreign countries," Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun said, according to Xinhua news agency.

It is the first time that a high-ranking Chinese official has specifically ruled out the use of foreign technologies to build the 1,300-kilometre (808-mile) railway.

The 200-billion-yuan (24.7-billion-dollar) project was first proposed in 1994 and was originally supposed to be completed before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

However, disputes over which technology to use have delayed the project. German, French and Japanese companies had vied for the deal, but now it appears those efforts were in vain.

The express railway, designed for speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour, is expected to shorten travel time between the two cities from 13 hours to less than five.

[davidwei01]

China to use own technology for high-speed rail

BEIJING, March 9, 2006 (AFP) - China has decided to use domestic technology instead of international firms to construct a much-anticipated high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai, state press reported Thursday.

"Our technology is a re-innovation on the basis of assimilating advanced technologies of foreign countries," Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun said, according to Xinhua news agency.

It is the first time that a high-ranking Chinese official has specifically ruled out the use of foreign technologies to build the 1,300-kilometre (808-mile) railway.

The 200-billion-yuan (24.7-billion-dollar) project was first proposed in 1994 and was originally supposed to be completed before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

However, disputes over which technology to use have delayed the project. German, French and Japanese companies had vied for the deal, but now it appears those efforts were in vain.

The express railway, designed for speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour, is expected to shorten travel time between the two cities from 13 hours to less than five.
china's local high speed train, "China Star", debut on ShenYang - ShanHaiGuan, 8/2005
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[hkskyline]

Monday March 13, 8:37 AM
HK PRESS: MTR Corp May Invest In Hangzhou Subway System

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Hong Kong rail operator MTR Corp. (0066.HK) may invest in the city of Hangzhou's planned subway system, The Standard reported Monday, quoting Mayor Sun Zhonghuan.

Hangzhou city is in talks with several companies, including MTR, about its planned eight-line subway system, the paper quoted Sun as saying. The capital of Zhejiang province hopes to build the first two lines by 2010, at a cost of about CNY33 billion, the report said.

Hangzhou may allow MTR to develop land around subway stations, the paper quoted Sun as saying. MTR pays for most of its Hong Kong rail operations through similar property development arrangements.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.thestandard.com.hk

[oKo]

Woah...the shenyang looks nice (although i know not of its technical bits)...

China's rail infrastructure seem to be going on the right track

[hkskyline]

High-speed rail links approved Maglev line will run from Shanghai to Hangzhou
14 March 2006
South China Morning Post

The central government has approved plans to build a magnetic-levitation railway between Shanghai and Hangzhou , and a high-speed rail link between Shanghai and Beijing.

On its official website yesterday, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the State Council had approved a proposal to build the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev line and work would start on a feasibility study for the project.

The 35 billion yuan, 175km maglev project will cut commuting time between Shanghai and Hangzhou from two hours to 30 minutes, according to Xinhua.

The Zhejiang section will be 105km long and include a stop in Jiaxing .

The project was expected to be completed in 2008 and be operating before the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, Xinhua said.

Wu Ying, a Shanghai office worker whose home town is Hangzhou, said the maglev line would make trips between the two cities faster and more convenient. "The present Meilong railway station in Hangzhou is very run down, and during peak times such as the Lunar New Year, the trains can be very crowded," Ms Wu said.

She said that even though the maglev's price would put it out of the range of regular passengers, the line would offer people greater choice.

The NDRC statement did not mention where the technology would be acquired from.

The existing 30km maglev in Shanghai's Pudong area is operated by Transrapid, a consortium comprising ThyssenKrupp, Siemens and the German government.

The NDRC also announced the State Council had given the go-ahead for a high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai.

"All parties have reached consensus on major issues such as the technological plan, and the opportunity for construction is ripe," the commission's statement said.

The track will allow trains to cover the 1,320km between the two cities at 300km/h, cutting the travel time from 13 hours to less than five hours. Railways Minister Liu Zhijun said last week the Beijing-Shanghai link would employ foreign technology and the 140 billion yuan needed for construction would come from the market.

The NDRC said a company would be established to build and operate the line with financing from private and foreign sources.

[*UofT*]

WOW, That's awsome news the Speed Train!

Pakistan and other asian nations should ask the Chinese Authorities to build transporation links and metros. Good stuff all around.

[hkskyline]

Alstom sees strong demand in China metro expansion
By Jerker Hellstrom

SHANGHAI, March 14 (Reuters) - French engineering group Alstom aims to increase its metro equipment sales in China this year as the nation's cities expand their subway networks, a top company executive said on Tuesday.

Alstom Transport sold 50 million euro ($59.81 million) to 70 million euros worth of metro trains and equipment in China in both 2004 and 2005, said Marc Chatelard, Senior Vice President, Alstom Transport Asia Pacific.

He would not comment on whether the figure grew or declined from one year to the next.

"We are fighting to increase that," Chatelard said. "I see a very big market in the metro segment. Many cities are contemplating to expand their metro networks."

Alstom Transport had total sales of 600 million euros in the Asia Pacific region in 2004, with the transport unit's regional earnings accounting for about 3 percent of group profits, Chatelard said.

Alstom faces competition in China from German conglomerate Siemens AG , Canada's Bombardier Inc. and Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries , which also are vying to sell railway equipment and expertise to China.

Alstom signed its latest major train deal in China in 2004, a non-metro agreement, when Beijing agreed to buy 60 trains and 180 freight engines worth about 1 billion euros.

Alstom also hopes to strike a deal with Beijing to export its TGV trains as China plans to build 28,000 kilometers of railway by 2020.

Siemens signed a contract with Beijing late last year to supply 60 high-speed InterCity Express (ICE) trains.

China plans to invest 160 billion yuan ($19.9 billion) in railway construction in 2006, but is still likely to face problems with transportation bottlenecks over the next five years, according to official forecasts.

China's rail and shipping networks have struggled to keep up with the country's fast-growing economy, which expanded 9.9 percent in 2005 according to official data. ($1=8.0468 Yuan) ($1=.8360 Euro) (Additional reporting by David Lin)

[hkth]

A series of the Xinhua News:
New railway lines feature high speed link (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/14/content_4303727.htm)

Shanghai subway construction set for fast track (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/14/content_4301851.htm)

Guangzhou on track for new railway station (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/14/content_4300492.htm)

Qinghai-Tibet Railway expected to be extended from Lhasa to Xigaze (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/13/content_4298828.htm)

Transport by Qinghai-Tibet Railway is most expensive (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/06/content_4265028.htm)

[hkskyline]

China to Build Second Beijing-Guangzhou Railway This Year

BEIJING, March 15, SinoCast -- A few days ago, the vice minister of China's Ministry of Railways Cai Qinghua said the second railway from Beijing to Guangzhou had been allowed for construction by National Development & Reform Commission of China. And the Beijing-Shijiazhuang section of this will start construction this year.

Cai said the Beijing-Guangzhou railway was used for both passenger and freight transportation and was fully occupied, especially in the Spring Festival period, which made it hard to improve the capacity of passenger transportation. So Chinese government has decided to construct another railway on the same line with a budgeted investment of CNY 25.1 billion.

The construction of the route from Wuhan to Guangzhou has been going since last December and was supposed to be finished in December 2009. "At present, the Wuhan-Guangzhou railway has been fully occupied and could not meet the need of transportation. The new construction will expand the capacity of transportation and relieve the pressure of ticket purchasing" said an official of Wuhan to Guangzhou passenger transportation section.

As to the construction of the route from Wuhan to Beijing, a professional said that the plan had submitted to relative organizations but the details were still on planning board.

Due to the great expenditure of the 2nd Jing Guang railway, government may consider to attract domestic or foreign capital.

[hkskyline]

Design of Beijing Subway Line 5 Approved
16 March 2006
China Industry Daily News

The design of Beijing Subway Line 5 recently received approval from the Beijing Municipal government; the Beijing Times reported quoting from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning. A bike parking space will be established at each station of the Subway Line 5.

The Beijing Subway Line 5 starts from the Songjiazhuang station in Fengtai district in the south part of the city, ends at Taipingzhuang Beilu station in Changping district in north Beijing. The 27.665-kilometer subway will have 23 stations. The under earth part of the subway totals 16.875 kilometers, with 16 stations. The part of subway on the ground reaches 10.79 kilometers, with 7 stations.

According to the Project Department of the Subway Line 5, they will also consider establishing taxi parking spaces and public buses parking spaces near the subway stations to facilitate the citizens.

The Subway Line 5 project has already begun construction. The rail-laying project will be finished by the end of the year.

[hkth]

A series of the Xinhua News:
Xi'an mulls subway project (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/18/content_4315804.htm)

Eight metro lines to be operational in Shanghai by 2007 (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/17/content_4312707.htm)

[hkskyline]

Bombardier wins Chinese rail deal
Deal increases company's global profile as nation readies for 2008 Olympic Games
20 March 2006
The Globe and Mail

BEIJING -- Bombardier Inc. has won a $68-million (U.S.) contract to provide railway cars for a rapid-transit link between Beijing and its international airport in time for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The contract is important for Bombardier, since it guarantees another high-visibility Olympic project for the company at a time when it is fighting for a bigger slice of the fast-growing China market.

Last year, the Montreal-based company won a separate $89-million contract to build an automated “people mover” train system at a new terminal of Beijing's international airport as it expands to handle Olympic visitors.

The latest contract, announced yesterday in Beijing, is for Bombardier to provide technology and equipment for 40 cars on a 27-kilometre railway link between the airport and the city's subway system. Bombardier will provide the design, engineering, propulsion systems and bogies for the cars, which will be assembled by a domestic company in China.

“This is very important because it confirms the leadership of Bombardier in China,” Andre Navarri, president of Bombardier Transportation, said in an interview yesterday.

“When a big city like Beijing wants a first-class technology on time for a big event, they go to Bombardier,” he said. “It confirms that we are regarded very highly in China.”

Mr. Navarri acknowledged, however, that Bombardier will face “quite tough” deadlines for the delivery of the 40 train cars. “We have to deliver the first train set for testing in August, 2007, and we have to deliver most of the trains before the Summer Olympics, which is only 28 months from now. So it's a tough schedule, but the customer is confident in us.”

He also predicted that the fleet of trains on the Beijing airport link “will probably increase” beyond the current fleet of 40 cars in the future. “This is only a start.”

Elsewhere in the Chinese market, Bombardier got a boost this month when China announced it will use conventional wheel technology, rather than German magnetic levitation technology, for a planned high-speed railway between Shanghai and Beijing, the two biggest cities in the country.

The German technology is already in use for a 31-kilometre Shanghai airport link, and it will be used for a new 200-kilometre train line between Shanghai and the booming city of Hangzhou. But the maglev technology has been rejected for the Beijing-Shanghai route, creating an opportunity for Bombardier.

“There will be a competition and we will be part of the competition,” Mr. Navarri said. “There will probably be several suppliers on this high-speed line.”

The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line is part of a massive expansion of China's railway system, which is slated to add 5,400 kilometres of new high-speed lines in the next four years.

Mr. Navarri said Bombardier is also progressing smoothly on its $281-million contract to provide 361 rail cars for the country's controversial high-altitude railway to Tibet.

The railway has been denounced by human-rights activists as a potential death blow to Tibet's cultural survival.

“The first train has been tested in real conditions in cold weather in Tibet in February, to test the oxygen, for example, and it went quite well,” he said.

“The first train set has been delivered to the customer. The second train set is being tested now on the line, and the third train set will be delivered for testing this week.”

The railway line to Tibet, which will climb in some parts to as high as 5,000 metres, is likely to begin operations around September, he said.

[hkskyline]

A new train set - China
25 March 2006
The Economist

National pride is spurring development of China's railways

IN THE rush to modernise its transport infrastructure, China has built scores of glossy airports and an extensive road network along its eastern seaboard. Far less attention and money has been lavished on the country's antiquated and overburdened railways, which carry a high proportion of freight and passengers.

That is changing at last. On the fringes of the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, earlier this month, Liu Zhijun, the minister for railways, announced approval for two bold and long-planned high-speed rail lines. The larger, first mooted as long ago as 1994, is a 1,320km (820 mile) link between Shanghai and Beijing. With trains along it expected to reach top speeds of 350km an hour, it should cut the travel time between the mainland's two most important cities from 13 hours to less than five—although at an eye-watering expense of some 200 billion yuan ($25 billion). The other project is a 175km connection between Shanghai and nearby Hangzhou, another big city in the booming Yangtze River Delta, that will allow speeds of up to 450km per hour and cost around 35 billion yuan.

These two lines are showpieces in a hugely ambitious official scheme to construct some 5,400km of high-speed rail track by the end of the decade, at a cost of more than 1 trillion yuan. This itself is but a part of China's plan to build and refurbish about 40,000km of its railways by 2010 in an effort to ease bottlenecks in the transport of everything from coal to soyabeans to people.

The Chinese government, however, has a second, equally important goal in mind: using the railways to display China's technological prowess in a way that it has failed to do—so far, at least—in building cars and aircraft. After two decades of deliberately importing foreign expertise in order to speed economic development, China is starting to place more emphasis on (and put more resources behind) homegrown technology. A space flight by a Chinese astronaut in 2003, followed by a second manned space mission last October are the most visible signs of this new determination to catch up with western science and engineering in everything from software and consumer electronics to semiconductors and giant engineering projects. Following an official announcement this month that China planned to build its own jumbo jets, Mr Liu said that the new high-speed rail lines will not use any foreign technology.

That is a blow for the international engineering firms that have lobbied hard to sell their high-speed trains to China, including Japan's shinkansen, Alstom's French TGV and the maglev (magnetic levitation) train offered by Siemens and ThyssenKrupp of Germany. Siemens is behind the 30km maglev train service that has been running between Shanghai's Pudong airport and the city since 2002. And it may win some more work since the Shanghai-Hangzhou track will also be based on maglev technology, although principally one developed by Chinese engineers over the past few years. For the other foreign companies, prospects look less promising. The longer link to Beijing will be built with different, domestically-developed technology. And, as so often in China, it will be hard to establish whether foreigners' intellectual-property rights have been infringed along the way. As Mr Liu delicately put it to the Chinese media: “Our technology is a re-innovation on the basis of assimilating advanced technologies of foreign countries.”

At a time when economic nationalism is rising around the world, China's unwillingness to remain in thrall to foreign technology is understandable. Whether it yet has the skills to develop and commercialise its own technology in a field as complex as modern train systems is another matter. None of an earlier generation of passenger jets, today's mainland cars and the Shanghai airport maglev are financial successes. Nor will either of the new high-speed links be ready for the 2008 Olympics. While China may be getting better at running trains, they are not yet running quite on time.

[hkskyline]

Guangzhou to build 9 subways
30 March 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

GUANGZHOU, March 30 (CEIS) – Guangzhou, the capital city of China’s southern Guangdong Province, plans to build nine subways with a total length of 255 km in the country’s 11th Five-Year Program period (2006-2010).

The city now has its total subway length of 59.2 km.

With the nine new subways built by 2010, subways will take over half of Guangzhou’s public passenger transport capacity, said Lu Guanglin, general manager of the Guangzhou Subway Corp.

According to Lu, Guangzhou will put in no less than 5 billion yuan every year in subway construction.

[hkskyline]

Shanghai to get another four metro lines by 2010
6 April 2006
South China Morning Post

Shanghai plans to finish four new metro lines by 2010 to link up with the World Expo site and meet demand from the city's rapidly expanding suburbs, the government and state media said yesterday.

The city will host the world's fair in 2010 and the local government is using the event to improve Shanghai's infrastructure.

State-owned Shanghai Shentong Metro signed an agreement with 11 mainland commercial banks on Tuesday for a 30 billion yuan loan to help fund the new lines, the government said.

Shanghai's development of its metro system had slowed after the launch of central government policies to rein in the economy in 2004. But Beijing recently approved a high-speed railway link between Shanghai and Hangzhou using maglev technology, as well as another rail link between Shanghai and Beijing.

Shanghai's new metro lines - numbered six through to nine - will cover 120km with 89 stops. Construction will start this year.

Line No6 will pass through several large residential areas in Pudong near the World Expo site. Lines 7 and 8 will carry passengers directly into the site, while No9 will extend to a new town and a university complex in a southwestern suburb.

According to a city government blueprint, Shanghai will have 13 metro lines with a total length of 510km by 2012. Five, mainly covering the inner city area, have already been completed.

A Shanghai government policy white paper says officials plan to make intra-city railways the backbone of the public transport system, accounting for 60 per cent of journeys by 2020. The local government needs to develop links between the city centre and the suburbs, as it tries to relocate more residents to outlying areas.

[hkth]

Xinhua news:
High-speed rail link to change regional economic structure (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/08/content_4398874.htm)

[hkskyline]

中國建四戰略鐵道 全面與世界「接軌」
2006-04-10
http://www.wenweipo.com/logo/logowwp.jpg

http://www.wenweipo.com/image/2006/04/10/chaa.jpg

　【本報北京新聞中心記者海巖9日電】國務院西部開發辦有關官員近日表示，在「十一五」乃至更長時期，中國謀劃在西南、西北、東北以及雲南地區建設四條新的陸路國際性戰略大通道。其中在西南部醞釀建設的南亞陸路大通道，由青藏鐵路繼續向南延伸經亞東出境，與印度鐵路網連接，形成一條通向南亞次大陸的戰略通道。

　謀劃中的另外3條陸路大通道是：在雲南，建設連接雲南與東南亞、南亞的中緬印國際大通道；在東北地區東部，修建「琿春－東寧」鐵路以及春化出境鐵路與俄羅斯鐵路接軌；在西北地區，架設新疆與俄羅斯陸路大通道。

更好利用國內外資源

　國務院西部開發辦綜合規劃組處長胡長順認為，由於中國與世界經濟的相互聯繫和影響日益深刻，建設陸路新的國際性戰略大通道，可以更好的利用國內國際兩個市場、兩種資源，保障國家經濟社會的安全，解決中國與周邊國家在能源、礦產資源等方面擴大境外合作的運輸大通道問題，實施共贏的開放戰略。

　西藏地處中國西南邊陲，與印度、不丹、尼泊爾等多個國家接壤，邊境線長達4,000多公里，高原上第一條鐵路——青藏鐵路將在今年7月1日全線試運營。早在青藏鐵路竣工之前，海外就猜測「拉薩不會成為青藏鐵路的終點站」，希望能夠繼續延伸，令周邊國家從中獲益。去年以來，尼泊爾國王賈南德拉在幾次國際會議期間，都向中國和印度領導人表示，希望青藏鐵路能夠鋪到尼泊爾境內，最終與印度、孟加拉國等鐵路網連接，成為其兩大鄰國——中國和印度之間的交通運輸紐帶和中轉站。

構建南亞陸路大通道

　胡長順認為，考慮到西藏與周邊國家關係的進一步穩定和經濟社會發展需要，建設通往南亞國家的陸路大通道至關重要，將青藏鐵路一直向南延伸到日喀則，再延伸經過亞東出境，今後與印度鐵路網連接，構建南亞陸路大通道，未來它將成為中國通往南亞乃至南亞國家出印度洋走向世界的一條南亞大動脈。

[hkth]

Xinhua news:
Tibet's first railway to start unmanned operation next month (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/13/content_4421588.htm)

[hkskyline]

Hong Kong MTR Corp. signs agreement to build, operate new Beijing rail line
13 April 2006

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong railway operator MTR Corp. said Thursday it signed an agreement to build and operate a new Beijing rail line for an investment of 735 million yuan (US$91.7 million; euro75.6 million).

The total investment for the project, Beijing Metro Line 4, will be about 15.3 billion yuan (US$1.9 billion; euro1.6 billion), the Hong Kong company said in a statement.

Beijing's municipal government will provide 10.7 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion; euro1.1 billion) of the total investment, it said.

The 29-kilometer (18-mile) rail line will run across the center of Beijing.

The project will be carried out through a joint venture, Beijing MTR Corp. Ltd., jointly held by MTR Corp., Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co. and state-owned Beijing Capital Group.

MTR Corp. and Beijing Capital Group will each hold 49 percent of the project. The remaining 2 percent will be held by Beijing Infrastructure, the statement said.

MTR Corp., which operates Hong Kong's subway, has also signed an agreement to build and operate a railway in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

[hkskyline]

Railway transport capacity sees double-figure growth
19 April 2006
China Daily

The Chinese Ministry of Railways announced on Tuesday that China's railway transport capacity has seen a double-figure growth over the last two years thanks to faster trains.

The capacity increased by 18.5 percent and the freight transport capacity increased by 15 percent over the last two years after the speed of trains was raised on April 18, 2004, said the ministry.

The speed raises served to link China's major economic circles and greatly boosted China's rapid economic growth, said an official with the ministry.

China put into service 19 pairs of express trains linking major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Xi'an, increased the speed of trains to above 160 km per hour and opened more express freight trains.

According to the ministry, China's railways completed 1.154 billion passenger journeys last year, 18.7 percent more than before the speed was raised, and transported a total of 2.686 billion tons of cargo.

China has 22,090 kilometers of railways which can allow trains to run at a speed above 120 km per hour, 14,025 kilometers of railways above 160 km per hour and 5,371 kilometers above 200 km per hour.

The ministry said these extended high-speed railways lines have increased the possibility for China to launch more strategic railway speed raises in the coming years.

[hkskyline]

Rare Chinese steam train serves remote mountain villages and rail enthusiasts
30 May 2006

SHIBANXI, China (AP) - In the remote mountains of southern China, a worker busily shovels coal into a workhorse from another era -- a narrow gauge steam train that makes four or five runs a day ferrying people and livestock.

The Shibanxi passenger train has been operating since 1958 and is one of a handful of steam trains left in the world. Despite frequent rumors that it's headed for retirement, it keeps chugging though the lush green mountains of Sichuan province.

Blanketed much of the year by clouds and soft drizzle, the area is inaccessible by car. Villagers rely on the seven-car train to get to work, to transport pigs and vegetables to market, to carry children to school.

Foreign train buffs are also frequent passengers on the 19-kilometer (12-mile) run.

Wooden benches line the cars -- except for the last one, which has a pen for livestock. Sliding metal windows let in air and light or keep out the coal smoke when the train blasts through long tunnels.

"We need this train," says Xu Xia, a villager who lives near the station in Shixi, the first stop on the eight-stop rail line. "It's impossible to imagine life here without it."

The narrow tracks also serve as a path for villagers through the thick vegetation and steep mountain slopes, forcing the engineer to punctuate the trip with frequent earsplitting peals of the horn.

A ride costs local people 3 yuan (37 US cents; 29 euro cents). Tourists pay 15 yuan (US$1.87;euro1.47).

The rail line is popular among steam train enthusiasts who flock to Shibanxi from the United States, Europe and Japan.

[hkskyline]

China's altiplano trains ready to climb onto "Roof of the world"
14 June 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

BEIJING, June 14 (CEIS) -- A total of 169 China-made express trains are ready to run along the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world's highest railtrack due to begin trial operation on July 1.

The trains are specifically designed to operate on the altiplano railway of which 84 percent is 4,000 meters above sea level.

An engineer with manufacturer CSR Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock told Xinhua that the trains mark a new leap forward for China's railway equipment development.

The design of the carriages is unmistakably Tibetan, from the patterned carpets to the window curtains. All the Chinese words that appear on the electronic screen in each railway car are translated into both English and Tibetan.

Two oxygen systems have been installed on the train.

One is a "dispersion-mode" oxygen supply system, with oxygen spreading to the air in the railway car through the air-conditioning system. The other system, like that of an airplane, offers each passenger individual access to oxygen, and passengers can use a pipe to suck up more oxygen if needed.

All railway cars are equipped with double-layer glass which is covered with anti-ultraviolet radiation film.

With 1,142 kilometers section of the railway between Golmud and Lhasa running along Kunlun Mountain and Tanggula Mountain, 960 kilometers of the railway will be above 4,000 meters, with the highest point at 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was formerly the world's most elevated track.

To protect the natural environment along the railway, special sewage collection devices have been installed. All the waste is disposed of at the terminus.

A special rubbish compressor has also been installed in each car to avoid litter being strewn along the railway.

The train is also equipped with disabled toilets.

The 25T series train is designed for a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour, and it has reached 120 kilometers per hour during the test runs in previous months. The engineer said even when running through the highest point on the Tanggula Mountain, the speed of the train can reach 80 kilometers per hour.

Sources with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company said last month that the first four scheduled trains to Tibet by the Qinghai-Tibet railway will start, on July 1, from Beijing, Chengdu, Xining, and Shanghai (Guangzhou), respectively.

The railway is the first to connect the Tibet Autonomous Region with other parts of China. It is one of China's key projects in the west, which demonstrates the Chinese government's determination to bring prosperity to the Tibetan people and promote economic development of the vast western areas in China.

[hkskyline]

Thursday June 22, 12:31 PM
Beijing subway builders never got dollar-a-day salary

BEIJING (AFP) - Migrants from rural China worked for a year building Beijing's new subway line -- a signature project for the Olympics -- for just over one dollar a day but were never paid.

A Beijing court this week ordered a construction company to pay the 260 workers from eastern Shandong province their year's wages worth a total 900,000 yuan (112,500 dollars), the China Daily newspaper reported.

The salaries equate to 1.21 dollars a day for each worker but that was still too much for the government's Beijing Urban Construction Group, which defaulted on its payments to another firm it had subcontracted to employ the workers.

"Our boss told us that the Beijing Urban Construction Group did not pay him first," the plaintiffs told the court, according to the China Daily.

The court ruled on Tuesday that the subcontracting firm must pay the workers their salaries but said the city government's construction company was also to blame, according to the China Daily.

"The Beijing Urban Construction Group should also shoulder legal resonsibilities," the court judgment said.

The court was told the workers had been brought in from Shandong in June last year to help build the No. 5 Metro Line, which will run north-south under the city, passing the 2008 Olympic Village.

China is ploughing 40 billion dollars into Beijing's infrastructure ahead of the Olympics, with some of the money going into transport such as new subway lines and the airport.

Exploitation of workers is a recurring theme in China's economic "miracle", covering most industries from urban construction to the coal mines and the sweat shops that produce ultra-cheap goods for international markets.

[hkskyline]

Collapse at Beijing subway construction site kills 2 workers
28 June 2006

BEIJING (AP) - A section of a Beijing subway tunnel that was under construction collapsed, killing two workers, a news report said Wednesday.

Work on the line on the northern side of Beijing was suspended following the accident early Tuesday, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

The two workers were buried when the tunnel walls collapsed, and their bodies were found four hours later, the paper said.

Calls Wednesday to Beijing's work-safety administration were referred to the city government's foreign affairs office, who said they could not immediately respond.

Beijing is building four new subway lines in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

[hkth]

Xinhua news:
Trials begin for electric train from Shanghai to Nanjing (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-06/26/content_4749106.htm)

[hkskyline]

Guangshen to borrow $3.2b for railway line
18 July 2006
South China Morning Post

Guangshen Railway, which runs through-trains between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, is seeking $3.23 billion in debt to fund expansion.

The Hong Kong-listed company yesterday said its plan to build a fourth railway line, estimated to cost $4.6 billion, had been approved by its parent, Guangzhou Railway.

The company said it would fund 70 per cent of the cost by "external means of financing", and the rest by internal resources.

Guangshen had total liabilities of about two billion yuan at the end of last year.

It had also failed to sell 700 million A shares despite winning shareholders' approval in 2002 because of the Sars outbreak.

Sources said Guangshen was planning to raise about $10 billion by selling A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in the last quarter of this year, a move that was delayed by a government ban on all new listings last year.

The fourth Guangzhou-Shenzhen line will run through Xintang and Pingshu and connect to major lines including that between Beijing and Guangzhou and the Kowloon-Canton Railway.

To help build that line, Guangshen has signed agreements, including those for surveying and design services, construction works supervision, technical services and environmental assessment services, with several independent firms.

Guangshen's revenue was 3.28 billion yuan last year, up 7.9 per cent from 2004, while net profit grew 8.1 per cent to 613.4 million yuan.

Revenue from passenger transportation service was 2.51 billion yuan last year or 76.6 per cent of the total.

Shares of Guangshen fell 1.73 per cent yesterday to $2.825.

[hkskyline]

Nanjing to Build Subway of 52km by 2010

NANJING, July 17, SinoCast -- Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu Province, will finish rail transit of 51.925 kilometers, including the first phase and the eastern extension projects of the No. 2 subway as well as the southern extension project of the No. 1 subway, during the eleventh Five-Year Plan period.

At the same time, the eastern city plans to construct the western extension project of the No. 2 subway.

The No. 2 subway, with a length of over 25 kilometers, is planned to have a total investment of CNY 10.54 billion. The first phase has been started and will be put into trial operation in 2009.

The southern extension project of the No. 1 subway, which is 18 kilometers long and have an investment of CNY 6.93 billion, is planned to be openned for traffic in 2010.

The eastern extension project of the No. 2 subway, which is over 9 kilometers long and is invested in CNY 2.226 billion, will be started at the end of the coming year and be put into trial operation in 2010.

And the western extension project of the No. 2 subway, which is 14.82 kilometers long and has an investment of CNY 5.7 billion, will be started in 2008 and come into operation in 2012.

By the time when all of these lines are commissioned, the operating profits will be more than CNY 500 million, realizing break-even operation.

[z0rg]

Jiangsu to build 10 railways in 5 years

Winny Wang
2006-07-21
NANJING will become the transport hub in Jiangsu Province as plans have been established to build 10 railways in five years in the province, most of which will be connected by the Nanjing railway station, including the Shanghai-Beijing high-speed railway, Modern Express reported today.

It will only take 4 hours to travel from Nanjing to Beijing by train after the Shanghai-Beijing high-speed railway is completed by 2010.

From Nanjing to other nearby cities, like Hefei, Hangzhou and Shanghai, the trip will take about 1 hour.

Another railway will be built to connect the Nanjing Railway Station and the Nanjing South Railway Station.

Nanjing South Railway Station will be six times as big as the current Nanjing Railway Station, and it is expected to host 80 percent of all passengers.

The 10 new railways are:

*Shanghai-Beijing high-speed railway
Length: 1,318 kilometers
Speed: 350 km/h

*Shanghai-Nanjing railway.
Length: 296 kilometers
Speed: 250 km/h

*Nanjing-Hangzhou railway
Length: 280 kilometers
Speed: 200 km/h

*Nanjing-Wuhu railway.
Length: 263 kilometers
Speed: 200 km/h

*Nanjing-Hefei railway
Length: 166 kilometers
Speed: 200 km/h

*Nantong-Shanghai railway
Length: 133 kilometers
Speed: 200 km/h

*Suzhou-Huai'an railway
Length: 192 kilometers
Speed: 160 km/h

*Lianyungang-Funing railway
Length: 276 kilometers
Speed: 160 km/h

*Huai'an-Zhenjiang railway
Length: 173 kilometers
Speed: 160 km/h

*Zhenjiang-Nanxiang railway
Length: 227 kilometers
Speed: 160 km/h

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/07/21/286857/Jiangsu_to_build_10_railways_in_5_years.htm

[hkskyline]

China building 27-billion-dollar train line from Beijing to Shenzhen

BEIJING, Aug 3, 2006 (AFP) - China is building a 27-billion-dollar train line from Beijing to the southern economic hub of Shenzhen and foreign investors will be invited to join the project, state press reported Thursday.

The new 2,300-kilometer (1,420-mile) railway will cut travel time between the capital and Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, from 24 hours to 10, the China Daily said, citing the National Development and Reform Commission.

The track will be designed to allow trains to travel at speeds of at least 200 kilometers an hour, more than twice as fast as the current line, it said.

Work on some sections of the railway has already begun and the entire project is expected to be completed by 2010.

The newspaper, citing government officials, said the entire project was expected to cost around 220 billion yuan (27.5 billion dollars), with foreign investment welcomed.

"We encourage investors from home and abroad and we think it will be a profitable railway," a railways ministry official surnamed Huang said in the report.

The total investment will be recovered within six years of services on the line starting, Huang said.

Construction of a section of the line between Wuhan, the capital of China's central Hubei province, and Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province in which Shenzhen also lies, began in 2004.

However the National Development and Reform Commission, the government's main economic planning body, only released the blueprint for the entire project on Wednesday, the China Daily said.

The commission said the new railway would be solely for passengers, leaving the old track to carry cargo.

The project is separate from another multi-billion-dollar railway to be built between Beijing and Shanghai, which is also expected to be completed by 2010 and be open to foreign investment.

The Beijing-Shanghai line is epected to cut travel time between China's two most important cities from around 13 hours to five, with the trains expected to reach speeds of 350 kilometers an hour.

The investment costs for that project have not been announced although reports have suggested as much as 25 billion dollars will be ploughed into it.

China announced last year an ambitious plan to spend 250 billion dollars by 2020 to renovate and expand the nation's rail network, one of the largest in the world.

[hkskyline]

China planning major new coal railway

BEIJING, Aug 1, 2006 (AFP) - China is planning a 740-kilometer (460-mile) railway line to better link its impoverished, but coal-rich north to more prosperous and energy-hungry provinces further south, state media said Tuesday.

The coal rail, budgeted at 23 billion yuan (2.9 billion dollars), will start at Baotou, a major city in Inner Mongolia, a region known for its vast coal resources, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

Its southern terminus will be at Tangshan harbor, around 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Beijing, where the coal will be loaded onto ships and transported to the nation's energy-guzzling south, according to the paper.

The idea of a new coal railway to Inner Mongolia was raised in a research report jointly issued by power companies Huaneng and Datang International Power, coal producer Shenhua, and the State Development and Investment Corp.

The newspaper report did not give a timeframe for when the railway would be built.

Despite its rapidly modernizing economy, China is still heavily dependent on coal, relying on it for about two thirds of its energy consumption.

[moazzam]

China really has very impressive trains.....
What is maximum speed of china star?

[moazzam]

BEIJING: China will soon hold a feasibility study, exploring ways and means to expand its rail network up to the Pakistan's border.

A senior official of the Chinese Central government told APP here on Sunday that they were actively considering, strengthening their communication links with Pakistan through rail and road. We welcome Pakistan's proposals in this connection, and wish to extend support for optimism use of Gwadar seaport developing bilateral trade.

The technical and financial matters involved in the construction of the rail link up to Kashgar and the Sust check post, will be considered at the experts' levels.

The sources hoped that the rail link would open vast opportunities for Pakistan and China to deepen their trade and business interactions both at bilateral and regional levels.

The sources said, the China's Xinjiang autonomous region will soon undertake necessary spade work, connecting China with Pakistan through the rail. The Governor Xinjiang Region Ismail Tiliwaldi has stated early this year, during his meeting with a delegation of Pakistan Muslim League that his government will soon start necessary work to find out possibilities of operating a rail network between the two friendly countries through Kashgar.

The two sides agreed that the China's western region has rich potential to emerge as hub of Sino-Pak business activities. Pakistan and China have already started a regular bus service between Kashgar and Gilgit.

According to the exports, the proposals of expanding the China's existing rail network up to Pakistan and Central Asian states are feasible and this gigantic task could be implemented to serve their common interest.

China enjoys rich potential and technical know-how to expand its rail link to the country's mountainous regions. It proved its worth, by connection China's Qinghai province with Tibet last month. China solved three major difficulties to rewrite the world's history of railway construction. The three difficulties are frozen tundra, high altitude and plateau environmental protection, said Zhu Zhensheng, vice director of the Ministry of Railways office in charge of the new line.

About 550 kilometres of the tracks run on frozen earth, the longest in the world's plateau railways, posing great challenges for designing and construction, he said.

The oxygen content along the railway is only 50-60 percent of that at sea level as 960 km of tracks are located at more than 4,000 metres above sea level, Zhu said.

The annual average temperature on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is below zero degree Celsius with the minimum temperature at 45 degree Celsius below zero.

None of the hundreds of thousands of workers died of altitude sickness in the past five years, making a medical miracle, said Professor John West with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego.

More than 600 doctors and nurses served for the construction project and there was one clinic every 10 kilometres along the line, making sure that any sick worker could get medical treatment within 30 minutes.

However, when the country built a highway between Qinghai province and Tibet in early 1950s, almost the construction of every one kilometre of the road would claim one death.

The 1956-kilometre-long Qinghai-Tibet railway is the world's highest and longest plateau railroad and also the first railway connecting the Tibet autonomous region with other parts of China.

[moazzam]

Chinies (locomotive and wagons) train in pakistan
This is karakoram express (running between karachi and lahore...1210 km long track)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i303/moazzam_/keng1.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i303/moazzam_/kcoah2.jpg

[hkskyline]

China really has very impressive trains.....
What is maximum speed of china star?
High speed trainsets take shape.
1 August 2005
Railway Gazette International

Chinese Railways has ordered three fleets of high speed trains for operation of 200km/h regional inter-city services

TO OPERATE its emerging network of dedicated passenger routes (p479), Chinese Railways expects to put into service by 2015 a fleet of 1000 trainsets designed to operate at speeds of 200km/h or more.

Tenders are to be called next year for the very high speed trains to operate on the 300 to 350km/h routes, but work is already underway on three fleets of 200km/h trainsets to operate intermediate services on regional corridors and the three inter-city networks.

To support the high speed fleet, the Ministry of Railways is planning to develop four major depot and workshop complexes in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Guangzhou, each with a capacity of around 250 trainsets.

As part of the ongoing speed-up programme, CR and the China Academy of Railway Sciences have been working for several years on developing a range of locally-built 200km/h trainsets to work on existing lines. In addition, the China Star trainset (RG 6.03 p344) was developed by a consortium of Chinese manufacturers at a cost of 100m yuan for operation at up to 300km/h on the Beijing - Shenyang high speed line.

However, when the present Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun took office in mid-2003, the ministry's focus changed from developing domestic technology to addressing rapidly the growing bottlenecks on the railway network.

Faced with the need to build up a large fleet of high speed trains in a relatively short timescale, the Ministry of Railways decided to call international tenders for the supply of 140 trainsets, split into seven batches of 20 units. On October 9 2004 technology transfer contracts were awarded to three international consortia.

[hkth]

Xinhua news:
China invests heavily in railway construction (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/16/content_4969575.htm)

[hkth]

Xinhua news:
New deal for railway investment (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/21/content_4986159.htm)

[hkskyline]

Man sentenced to life imprisonment for Beijing-Kowloon railway sabotage

NANCHANG, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A man who severed the Beijing-Kowloon railway in an attempt to derail a passenger train has been sentenced at a court in east China's Jiangxi Province to life in prison.

Wu Guochang was also deprived of his political rights for life, under the sentence passed at the Intermediate People's Court for Railway Transportation in Nanchang, the provincial capital.

Wu was charged with severing a 142-cm piece of rail on the Jiangxi section of the railway on March 24. The railway line is a key passenger and cargo rail trunk in China.

His crime almost led to the derailment of a passenger train, which had to apply its emergency brakes, the court heard.

The action delayed eight passenger and 10 freight trains, causing losses of 70,924 yuan (8,865 U.S. dollars).

The Public Security Ministry on April 30 issued a class A warrant for Wu's arrest with a reward of 300,000 yuan (37,500 U.S. dollars) for information leading to his conviction.

Wu was arrested on May 1 in Jianyang City, Fujian Province, after railway police received a tip-off.

He was also charged with arson in his hometown of Jiande City, in neighboring Zhejiang Province, on Oct. 6, 2003. The fire injured one person and damaged five homes and other building.

He was seeking revenge against relatives involved in his family feud, according to prosecutors.

Wu said he would appeal to higher court after the trial of the first instance, which started on Friday.

[hkskyline]

China's railways carry over 5 million passengers on National Day

BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's railways carried a record 5.18 million passengers on Oct. 1, the first day of the country's week-long National Day holiday, said an official with the Ministry of Railways on Tuesday.

The source attributed the peak transportation to the increase of long-distance and short-distance travelers on that day. A total of 282 temporary trains were put into service on Sunday, said the ministry.

On Oct. 1 last year, the railways carried 4.55 million passengers, according to the ministry's data.

Railway is the main transportation tool for Chinese travelers. The sector faces even harder tasks in catering to increasing travelers during the country's three golden week holidays, which was introduced in 1999 aiming to stimulate domestic consumption.

The three week-long holidays are featured by the Spring Festival, May Day and National Day.

[hkskyline]

China maglev's safety system precludes collisions; line expansion planned, expert says
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
AP Business Writer
25 September 2006

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Shanghai's high-speed magnetic train has safety systems that would prevent the type of crash that occurred Friday in Germany, a Chinese expert said Monday, noting that the city still plans to expand its maglev rail line.

Likewise undeterred by the accident in Germany, where a maglev train crashed into a maintenance car, killing 23 people, the Central Japan Railway Co. announced Monday it plans to spend US$3.1 billion (€2.4 billion) to develop maglev trains over next decade, expanding a test track west of Tokyo.

The German-built Shanghai maglev line has computerized systems that prevent two trains from being on one track at the same time and that automatically stop the train if there is an obstacle ahead, said Chang Wensen, a professor at the Maglev Research Center at the National University of Defense Technology in the central Chinese city of Changsha.

A top Chinese maglev expert was visiting Germany when the crash occurred. Wu Xiangming, director of the China National Magnetic Levitation Transportation Technology Research Center, extended his trip to visit the accident site on Saturday and was heading back to China, said Rudolf Schwarz, the head of IAGB, which runs the German maglev track.

Chinese experts already were reassessing the Shanghai maglev's safety following an Aug. 11 fire in an electrical storage compartment beneath the passenger cabin that created large amounts of smoke but caused no deaths or injuries.

Preliminary investigations attributed that mishap to an electrical fault.

"The accidents in Shanghai and Germany will have some impact but will not hinder the development of the maglev," Chang said.

"The maglev technology itself has no problem," he said. "The problems are in the running of the maglev."

Shanghai's maglev line covers the 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the city's Pudong International Airport in just eight minutes at speeds of up to 430 kph (270 mph). Launched in early 2004, it is the world's first commercially operating magnetic levitation train line.

Its trains are controlled by a central computer system, minimizing the risk of human error, state media reports noted.

The operators of the line, Shanghai Maglev Transport Development Co., had no comment Monday.

German officials acknowledged Sunday that the test track in where the train crashed was not equipped with the most up-to-date security system, noting such an accident "would never have happened" on tracks that were.

Shanghai plans to build a short extension of the line to site of the 2010 World Expo, along the banks of the city's Huangpu River, and Chinese officials are in negotiations with Germany about constructing a much longer maglev line to the nearby city of Hangzhou.

Friday's crash came as German Traffic Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee was visiting China to urge officials there to expand their use of the German-made technology.

Shanghai's immaculate train and its gleaming stations are a showcase project for China's biggest city. But the line, whose terminus is inconveniently located in an eastern suburb, is not particularly popular. Earlier this month the train's operator announced it was offering discount fares in a bid to boost the number of riders.

[cyberjaya]

China plans five-year leap forward in railway development

October 07, 2006

Powerful engine pulled passenger compartments for the first time into Lhasa, the remote capital of Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on July 2. The train had traveled along the 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet Railway at a speed of 120 km per hour to conquer the "roof of the world".

The maiden train run on the world's most elevated tracks, 5,072 meters above the sea level at one point and more than 4,000 meters above the sea level for 960 kilometers, was hailed as an engineering marvel in world railway history and a dream-come-true for China's railway constructors.

But for Chinese railway planners, this is only the beginning of a new five-year drive to modernize the country's railway transportation systems that serve one fifth of the world's population.


Ambitious plans

China's Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun says that in the five years from now to 2010, China will build 19,800 kilometers of new railway lines, modernize 15,000 kilometers of existing railway lines, boost passenger train speed to 200 km per hour with fast trains traveling at more than 300 km an hour, and increase the load of freight trains with a single engine hauling over 5,000 tons.

Under the railway development plan approved by the Chinese government, every year 4,000 kilometers of new tracks will be laid, 3,000 kilometers of existing tracks electrified, and more fast passenger trains, including the maglev trains, and large capacity freight trains introduced.

Liu says he hopes that by 2010, China's railway networks will be able to carry 30 percent more passengers and 30 percent more freight to alleviate the heavy demand for railway transportation.

As a developing country, China relies heavily on railways -- the cheapest means of mass transportation. Statistics show that in China, the energy consumption ratio of transportation by air, road and railways is 11:8:1. So at present, the transportation of 75 percent of coal, 66 percent of ore, 62 percent of iron and steel, as well as 56 percent of grain is done by the railways in the country.

China now has 75,000 kilometers of railways, with 6,500 kilometers built in the last five years. China's economy has been developing at an annual rate of more than 9 percent on average, but the length of its railways grows at a 9.5-percent increase in five years.

"We have been using 6 percent of the world's operational railways to move 23 percent of the total people and freight transported by the world's railway systems each year," Liu says.


Speed raises

To increase railway transportation capacity, China has continuously increased the speed of both its passenger and freight trains. Since 1997, China has raised its train speed for five times, boosting passenger train speed on 22,100 km of tracks to 120 km/hr, on 14,000 km of tracks to 160 km/hr and on 5,370 km of tracks to 200 km/hr. The speed of freight trains on the above-mentioned tracks has also been raised to 120 km/hr.

Before the speed raises, China's trains used to travel at 60 km/hr.

Liu says that the fifth speed raising launched in 2004 alone has increased the passenger and freight transportation capacity of China's railway networks by 18.5 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

China is now preparing for the sixth train speed raising. He Wuhua, chief engineer with the Ministry of Railways, said the target of the sixth speed raising, scheduled to take place this year, is to extend the tracks that accommodate trains running at 200 km/hr by 6,000 kilometers.

In the next five years, Liu says, China will further raise the speed of passenger trains to 200 km/hr on another 13,000 km of the existing rail tracks, in addition to building dedicated lines to passenger trains. He adds that the speed of freight trains on all tracks will be raised to 120 km/hr by 2010.

Despite repeated speed raises, the transportation capacity of China's railways still lags far behind the need of the country's booming economy.

According to statistics released by Chinese Railways, a trade magazine, passenger trains in China provide only 2.41 million seats but sell 3.05 million tickets a day (4.2 million tickets at peak days), leaving many passengers no choice but to stand in the aisles; railway transportation authorities can provide 110,000 freight cars a day, but the nation's daily average demand for freight cars is 280,000, with over 60 percent of the demand left unsatisfied.


Dedicated Lines

To meet the increasing demand for railway transportation, railway planners have called for the building of high-speed dedicated passenger railway lines and the shifting of all freight transportation to the existing tracks.

In 1999, China started to build its first passenger-train-only railway. The 404-km Qin-Shen railway went into service in 2003, with a designed train speed at 200 km/hr and a rushing speed at 300 km/hr.

Liu says in the next five years, China will build 9,800 km of dedicated passenger railway lines, or 50 percent of the new lines to be built in the country. Of the 9,800-km dedicated passenger railway lines, 5,457 km will accommodate trains running at a speed above 300 km/hr.

The Ministry of Railways has announced that it will soon start the construction of a 1,318-km dedicated railway line linking Beijing with Shanghai, which allows trains to run at 350 km per hour.

Wang Yongping, a spokesman with the Ministry of Railways, says the fast train service to be launched by 2010 will cut train trips between Beijing and Shanghai from current 14 hours to only five hours.

"The Beijing-Shanghai dedicated passenger line can relieve the existing tracks of the heavy pressure from passenger transportation, thus increasing the freight transport capacity of the existing tracks by 50 million tons a year," says Ji Jialun, a professor with Beijing Transportation University.

The Chinese government has also approved the construction of a maglev passenger railway between Shanghai and Hangzhou with German technology. Train speed on the 175-km maglev line is expected to reach 450 km/hr, cutting the 2-hour-and-20-minute trip to only 30 minutes. (more)


Heavy Loading Cars

To increase the freight transportation capacity of the railways, China will introduce 70-ton freight cars which carry more goods than the 60-ton freight cars presently in use.

According to the plan of the Ministry of Railways, China will roll out 70-ton cars for general use, 80-ton cars for coal and 100-ton cars for ore, iron and steel in the next five years.

The adoption of heavy loading freight cars can help reduce the length of a train set, making it possible for existing railway station platforms to accommodate heavy hauling trains.

"We will produce 1,000 more engines that can pull 5,000 tons of goods and run at 120 km an hour in the next five years," Liu says.

China's six major railway trunk lines now all have 5,000-ton freight train service. The Ministry of Railways is even running 10,000-ton freight trains on the Da-Qin Railway, with a designed annual transportation capacity of 100 million tons. The line's actual annual transportation volume reached 203 million tons in 2005.

China will also develop railway container transportation, making 10,000 km of tracks able to accommodate double-deck container transportation, and establishing an annual capacity of 10 million TEUs.

To realize the planned leap-forward in railway development, Liu says China will invest 1.25 trillion yuan (150 billion U.S. dollars) in the next five years. He adds that the country will mainly rely on domestic technology and manufacturing in railway development, though it also needs to import some key, advanced technologies from abroad.

Sun Zhang, a professor with the Shanghai-based Tongji University, holds that even in five years, China's railway networks will still lag behind those in the developed countries. He says that Germany, with a land territory smaller than Yunnan, a province in southwest China, boasts 45,000 km of railways, nearly half of the overall railway length China expects to have in five years.

[hkskyline]

At this point, I don't think maglev is cost effective despite the high speeds. The billions needed to implement one single line can be better used for a much larger yet slower high-speed rail network.

[hkskyline]

Chinese man jailed for life for severing railway

BEIJING, Sept 28 (Reuters) - A Chinese court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for trying to derail a passenger train and arson, local media said on Thursday.

Wu Guochang, 43, received the sentence from the Intermediate People's Court for Railway Transportation in Nanchang, capital of the eastern province of Jiangxi, the Beijing News said.

Wu was charged with "sabotaging transport facilities" by severing a 1.42-metre (4.66 feet) piece of rail in the Jiangxi section of the Beijing-Kowloon railway, a key link between the Chinese capital and Hong Kong, in March, the Beijing News said.

"His crime almost led to the derailment of a passenger train, which had to apply its emergency brakes," the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that eight passenger trains and 10 freight trains were delayed, causing losses worth 70,924 yuan ($8,974).

Wu was also convicted of setting several fires in his native province of Zhejiang in 2003, damaging homes and offices and injuring one person, the Beijing News said.

Wu was also deprived of political rights for the rest of his life, but he would appeal against the sentence, saying the cut on the railway was not serious enough to derail a train, the Beijing News said.

Chinese media said previously that Wu had committed the crimes out of revenge and "dissatisfaction with society" after he was abandoned by his wife.

Police offered a reward of 300,000 yuan for Wu's arrest in May. ($1=7.903 Yuan)

[hkskyline]

Beijing subway line to be extended
26 October 2006
China Daily Information Company

Beijing's No10 subway, currently under construction for the 2008 Olympic Games, will be connected in 2010 to the No5 and No4 subway lines, also under construction.

Work on the lengthened section of the No10 line will begin next year and will be one kilometer longer than the 6.85 km-extension that was originally planned in order to connect the No4 line with lines 5 and 10, according to the Beijing Municipal Rail Transit Construction Management Co Ltd.

The No10 subway line will form a semi-loop line from Beijing's northwest to southeast. It southeastern terminus, Jinsong, will be connected with Songjiazhuang on line 5 and Shiliuzhuang Lu on line 4.

Construction of the 24-km first phase of the No10 line began in late 2004. It is expected to be completed and put into operation before the 2008 Olympics, together with the No4 and 5 subway lines, a rail link from the No10 line to the Olympic village and a light-rail track to the international airport.

By 2008, the total length of subway lines in operation in the capital city will increase to 200 km from the current 114 km. Four subway lines are in operation in Beijing.

Beijing is also upgrading its No1 and No2 subway lines by purchasing new trains and updating old ones, according to the Beijing Subway Operation Co Ltd.

[hkskyline]

Shanghai has China's largest subway transfer hub

SHANGHAI, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- East China's commercial center Shanghai will inaugurate sections of the country's largest subway transfer hub on Saturday.

When completed in 2010, the 42,000-square-meter hub in Century Boulevard Station in Pudong district will help thousands of passengers transfer among subway lines 2, 4, 6 and 9, said the city's underground transport source on Friday.

Built under the middle section of Century Boulevard, the three-storey station goes 21 meters underground.

The hub will be capable of transferring 120,000 passengers per hour.

[hkskyline]

Beijing subway to install cameras, shield doors to monitor safety

BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Beijing is planning to install monitor cameras and shield doors to prevent waiting passengers falling off onto the rail, said a subway company manager.

"The No.1 and No.2 Line of the subway are undergoing an overall restructuring with high-tech equipments to strengthen safety measures," said Zhan Minghui, deputy manager of the Beijing Subway, adding that more subway staff members are dispatched on each station to remind waiting passengers not to cross "the yellow safety line".

Zhan said besides a few number of suicide attempts, most subway falling victims had stepped out of the safety line to pick up falling articles or just out of curiosity.

"One would get a deadly electric shock if he fell onto the rail and touched the 825-volt high-tension electric track. It's worse that if train coming the driver immediately activated the emergency brake, the train would still slide for about 100 meters before stop, causing miserable deaths," said Zhan, adding that suspended subway service would add great pressure to road traffic.

Zhan said after restructuring, monitor cameras will cover the whole platforms and shield doors will prevent passengers cross over the safety lines.

A man killed himself by jumping off the platform in front of a train at a Beijing subway station around the city center on Oct. 18.

[hkth]

Xinhua news:
China to use homemade high-speed trains next year (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/03/content_5286051.htm)

[z0rg]

Xi'an to complete 251.8 kilometers of subway by 2011

Xian: the Building of Subway to Start This Year
Published : 3:50 A.M. EST, Sep 14, 2006
With the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China yesterday, the Xian subway will launch its project as of October.

In order to develop a convenient and multi-functional public traffic system to reduce the traffic overloaded burden in Xian, the building of the subway is of great significance. It is planned that 251.8 kilometers (157 miles) subway lines composed of three main lines and three assisting lines will be built in Xian. Before 2015, two lines with each 50.3 kilometers (31 miles) long and 37 stations will be finished.

From October, the building for the 2nd line of the subway will begin its test and hereafter launch the project officially first. It is predicted that the project will be finished in the year of 2011. The line will start from the Xian Railway Station to Weiqu in Chang'an District. Places such as the North Street, Bell Tower, Xiaozhai, and Qujiang New District etc. are along the line. At present, preparation works for the project are being made methodically.

[Bitxofo]

^^There is NO metri in Xi'an now!
:crazy:

[Clashman]

I think they're saying that the Number 2 line, (not the 2nd one), is finishing its planning stages and is about to start construction. That line will be finished by 2011, not the whole system. The 253km plan is most likely a master plan that won't be finished for 20 years and will probably undergo several revisions before that, if it gets done even that soon.

Also in Chinese railway news, Tianjin's number 2 and number 3 subway lines are under construction right now. Line two will run basically east-west to the airport, and line three runs from the Southwest to the Northeast of the city. The two lines meet up with subway line 1 (already completed) at separate points along the line, and intersect at Tianjin's main railway station, where they will also eventually meet up with the Binhai line, which runs to TEDA.

In TEDA, they are also building a bit of a small streetcar system, which is coming along nicely and from the looks of it will probably be up and running in 6 months, if not sooner.

[Momo1435]

Here are two pictures of the new DJ4 locomotive build by SIEMENS in China in cooperation with Zhuzhou Electric Loco Works.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/momo1435/22_hdsA32H5ohcb.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/momo1435/hh_RO09npj0iGvU.jpg

The locomotive is based on the Europrinter platform.
180 double-locomotives are ordered and are 9000 kW strong

[cyberjaya]

By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-11-20 06:46

Beijing's metro system will stretch to 561 kilometres by 2020, replacing London's Underground as the longest subway system in the world, according to a recently completed construction plan for the capital city's public transportation offerings.

According to the plan, the 561 kilometres will be laid out along 19 lines knit together beneath the capital.

Unlike metro lines 1 and 2 (the loop lines), which encircle the Tian'anmen Square area, the traditional city centre, the new lines are expected to reach all the major corners of the capital.

Fifteen of the new lines will support urban areas, while the remaining four will stretch out to the suburbs, according to the plan drafted by the city's communications commission.

Zhao Hui, a researcher who helped draft the plan, said it represented a long-term vision and was therefore subject to change. The city's Development and Reform Commission still has to approve the plan, he noted.

The three lines Line 4, 5 and 10 that are currently under construction are expected to be operational for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Line 4 will connect Fengtai in the extreme south with Haidian in the northwest, spanning 28.16 kilometres. This line will represent the first direct link between Beijing's two "poles."

Line 5 will serve a similar function, creating a short-cut route between the "developed" north and "developing" south, from Changping to Fengtai districts.

The city is also building Line 10, which will proscribe an arc whose tips will be Haidian and Chaoyang districts. This line will link up the northwestern and eastern-southeastern sections of the city.

A 5.91-kilometre section of Line 10 is aimed at easing travel relating to the 2008 Olympic Games.

Zhao said Line 11 would be finished in 2012 and link with Line 10. The new loop line created by the two linked lines will thread through major city centres including Zhongguancun technology zone, the CBD and the Olympic zone.

Currently four metro lines serve Beijing. Lines 1 and 2 span 54 kilometres, while Line 13 and Line Batong cover 61 kilometres. Together they carry 1.5 million travellers every day.

Beyond building new subway lines, transportation experts have been exploring other possibilities for the city's underground space to help ease the traffic pressure.

During a conference this weekend entitled the "International Academic Conference on Underground Space," the Beijing Urban Planning Commission and Beijing Urban Planning and Designing Research Institute jointly released a new plan proposing the construction of six underground expressways by 2020 to further ease traffic congestion, mainly within the second and third rings.

Shi Xiaodong, a senior planner with the planning and design research centre, said moving more transportation underground will help eliminate noise pollution and reduce traffic in the old urban area.

However, Duan Liren, an expert with the Beijing Transportation Management Engineering Institute, warned the involved officials to be cautious about developing the underground express system.

"Such a large-scale underground expressway system would be unprecedented in the world, and we have little experience to draw upon. The technological difficulties and construction costs of this system will exceed those of the metro system," Duan was quoted by the Beijing News as saying.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/20/content_737088.htm

[hkskyline]

Nanjing's subway line to be extended
20 November 2006
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

NANJING, Nov. 20 (CEIS) -- Preliminary work started on an 18-km extension of the only subway line in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, on Monday.

"Construction will begin before the end of the year if the geological studies prove the extension can be accommodated," said a spokesman for the Nanjing city government.

The extension will run from Andemen, currently the southern terminus of the No.1 north-south subway, southward toward Jiangning University.

The line will cost 6.92 billion yuan (about 865 million U.S. dollars) and will have 12 stops.

"All the subway stops and other civil engineering work are expected to be finished by August 2008 if everything goes to plan, and the entire project will be finished and put into service on Dec. 1, 2009," said the spokesman.

The No. 1 north-south subway in Nanjing began operation in September 2005. With a length of 21.72 km and 16 stops, the subway cost 8.5 billion yuan (1.06 billion US dollars).

Industry experts said that the completion of the planned subway extension project would alleviate traffic congestion in the southeastern part of the city. Construction of the east-west No.2 subway is also in progress.

[hkskyline]

Guangshen Railway applies for A-shr IPO

SHANGHAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Guangshen Railway Co. , the largest rail operator in booming southern China, said on Wednesday that it had applied to float A-shares in Shanghai to fund its expansion.

The Hong Kong-listed railway operator will sell as many as 2.75 billion new shares, equivalent to 38.81 percent of its enlarged share capital, in Shanghai, it said in a statement.

The firm did not give a specific fund-raising target, but an issue of that many shares could raise 11 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), if the offer is priced close to Guangshen's Wednesday morning Hong Kong share price of HK$4.00, as analysts expect.

In July Guangshen, which carries both passengers and cargo, said it hoped to raise more than 10 billion yuan to buy assets from Yang Cheng Railway, a unit of its state parent, including a railway line.

Other railway operators in the country are also tapping the stock market to help their expansion.

Daqin Railway Co. , a coal-transporting railway based in Shanxi province in the northwest, raised 15 billion yuan in an initial public offer in Shanghai in July.

China's securities regulator said it would review Guangshen's IPO application on Dec. 4. ($1=7.84 Yuan)

[hkskyline]

UPDATED: 19:40, December 01, 2006
Shanghai unties technological knots in subway train power system
By People's Daily Online

A comprehensive testing system for the main circuit of subway trains for Line 1 of Shanghai's subway network passed an appraisal on Thursday by specialists organized by the city's Commission of Science and Technology.

The testing system, which identifies and analyses breakdowns in the vehicles' central power system, can reduce the maintenance period, thus saving the trouble of on-line testing. It can also help with performance testing, problem detection and technological evaluation of key parts.

The new system has broken the "technological gray box" used for imported subway trains. It can read technical details-like the internal structure of a power system and software codes-that have been held back by the original developer, which means that railway operators will no longer be forced to import parts.

[hkskyline]

China-made locomotives to run on high-speed rails
11 December 2006
China Daily

The first batch of China-made high-power alternating current electric locomotives have come off the production line in northeastern coastal city Dalian.

The locomotives will play a leading role in the sixth speed rise of China's trunk railway to be launched on April 18 next year.

The locomotive is named "Hexie", meaning "harmony" in Chinese.

Such drive electric locomotives are advanced in the world, said Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer and director of the Transport Administration of the Ministry of Railways.

According to Sun Xiyun, board chairman of the Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co Ltd, the producer, drive locomotives running on Chinese rail lines now are all double current.

Most electric locomotives in operation can only drive freight trains up to 3,800 tons at 80 to 100 km per hour, while "Hexie" can drive as much as 5,000 tons running at 120 km per hour.

The new locomotives will be used in trunk lines such as the Beijing-Guangzhou railway and the Beijing-Shanghai railway, and main coal transportation lines, said Zhang.

According to Sun, 44 units of the locomotives will come off the production line and put into use by the end of this year and 180 units more next year.

[hkskyline]

New metro extension leads to crowded trains
21 December 2006
Shanghai Daily

The extension of Metro Line 3 into Baoshan District, which opened on Monday, has raised complaints about overcrowded trains along the line.

The 14-kilometer extension runs from Jiangyang Road N. Station in Baoshan and connects to Jiangwan Town Station with 10 new stations in total.

It was set up to help Baoshan residents travel between their homes and downtown much quicker, cutting the trip by about 30 minutes compared to previous bus routes.

The additional passengers the extension has added to the line left many trains overly packed on Monday morning, a problem that could have been predicted as the same thing happened when an extension to Metro Line 1 opened two years ago.

About 27,000 commuters traveled on the northern extension of Metro Line 3 on Monday, less than half the expected figure by the Metro operator.

However, due to a long waiting interval and lack of trains, the additional commuters still managed to cause difficulty for others along the line.

Commuters at some major stations on the original line, such as Jiangwan Town and Chifeng Road stations, said trains were significantly more crowded during rush hours in the morning.

"Instead of an empty train, passengers from the extended line had already filled up 30 to 40 percent of the train's capacity when it arrived," said a female morning commuter on Jiangwan Town Station.

Metro workers said many passengers had to wait for a later train to arrive as the first train was too packed for any more passengers to get on.

Metro workers sometimes had to push the passengers into the trains in order to help the doors close.

No extra trains will be added to the line until 2008, so the waiting time between trains is not expected to drop, Metro officials said.

[JoshYent]

man so much to read! ahh i cant keep up!

[hkskyline]

Pretty much every major Chinese city has some rail development plan happening, but the central government is trying to curb infrastructure spending to stop an overheating economy, so the number of projects has slowed lately.

[drunkenmunkey888]

line 3's extension is already in operation? thats odd, urbanrail.net is usually quick to update it but on their map, it still didnt show the extension. any explanation for that?

[staff]

^^
As usual, the explaination is that it's very hard to keep up with all the developments in China. ;)

They haven't updated the map with the recent station name changes either, it seems.
http://www.urbanrail.net/as/shan/shanghai-map.gif

On line 2, Shimen Lu Station is now named Nanjing Xilu Station, and Henan Zhonglu is now named Nanjing Donglu, for example.

[drunkenmunkey888]

thats unusual cuz i remember last year when line 4 first opened, urbanrail.net updated it the day it opened. so i guess i was under the false impression that urbanrail updates its information as quickly as a newspaper publicizes.

[hkskyline]

Beijing officials try to convince people to use public transportation
By STEPHEN WADE
27 December 2006

BEIJING (AP) - Beijing officials are trying to convince the city's 13 million residents to use public transportation, a step that should please 2008 Olympic planners troubled by the capital's snarled traffic and dirty air.

Without offering specific money figures, Liu Xiaoming, spokesman for Beijing's Transportation Commission, said Wednesday that spending on public transportation would be boosted in the 600 days remaining before the 2008 Olympics begin.

Liu also said new bus and subway passes would be introduced early in 2007.

The city's subway system is expected to grow from its present 120 miles, reaching 185 miles by 2010 and 350 miles by 2015.

Despite the optimism, Liu offered figures suggesting the city was losing ground in its battle with chronic traffic congestion which, along with nearby heavy industry, is the source of frequently choking air pollution.

-- Beijing has 2.85 million vehicles, a figure expected to swell by 35 percent to 3.8 million in 2010.

-- The number of commuters using public transportation has increased from 26.5 percent in 2000 to 29.6 percent in 2005. In the same span, the number of private cars used for commuting has grown even more quickly from 23.2 percent to 29.8 percent.

"Our effort in alleviating congestion has been mitigated by the growth of urban construction and population," Liu said.

Liu said city officials were encouraged by the fall in car usage during last month's China-Africa summit. Using mandatory and voluntary measures, about 30 percent of vehicles were removed from the roads during the six days of meetings between Chinese and African leaders.

The measures may be a preview of the 2008 Olympics.

"It was a very good experience for us for the 2008 Olympic Games," Liu said. "I think the China-Africa forum has accelerated our efforts in developing and reforming our public transportation."

However, Liu said there was no plan to stem the soaring number of vehicles in the capital.

"At present the government does not have any policy or intention to control the number of private cars," he said. "But that does not mean the number of private car can grow without limits."

[Nozumi 300]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SO MCUH TO READ!!!!!!!!!OMG I FINALLY FINISHED!!!!!!owww my eyes hurt :lol:

[staff]

Could anyone move this thread to the Railway subforums where it belongs?

[hkskyline]

I have made the request in the 'About the forums' section and by PM. It has been a number of days and nobody seems to care.

[AlexS2000]

China-made locomotives to run on high-speed rails
11 December 2006
China Daily

The first batch of China-made high-power alternating current electric locomotives have come off the production line in northeastern coastal city Dalian.

The locomotives will play a leading role in the sixth speed rise of China's trunk railway to be launched on April 18 next year.

The locomotive is named "Hexie", meaning "harmony" in Chinese.

Such drive electric locomotives are advanced in the world, said Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer and director of the Transport Administration of the Ministry of Railways.

According to Sun Xiyun, board chairman of the Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co Ltd, the producer, drive locomotives running on Chinese rail lines now are all double current.

Most electric locomotives in operation can only drive freight trains up to 3,800 tons at 80 to 100 km per hour, while "Hexie" can drive as much as 5,000 tons running at 120 km per hour.

The new locomotives will be used in trunk lines such as the Beijing-Guangzhou railway and the Beijing-Shanghai railway, and main coal transportation lines, said Zhang.

According to Sun, 44 units of the locomotives will come off the production line and put into use by the end of this year and 180 units more next year.

Is this Chinese made high speed locomotive done with Chinese technology?
Or is it using foreign designed component but assemble in China?
Or could it be technology transfer?

I know that China was working on her own high speed train named "China Star" and it could go more than 200Km/H.

[AlexS2000]

China home-made high-speed maglev train to be trialled in Shanghai this July
16 February 2006

SHANGHAI (AFX) - China's first home-made high-speed magnetic levitation (maglev) train will be put through its first trial run in Shanghai in July this year, said Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co Ltd (CAC), a unit of China Aviation Industry Corp.

Production on the train, which is expected to run at a speed of 500 km per hour, started at the end of September last year.

The train has a designed speed of 500 km per hour and can carry 90 passengers. CAC possesses complete independent intellectual property rights of this project, a company official said.

Shanghai currently has one maglev line, which runs 30 kilometers from the international airport to a stop near a subway line in Pudong. That line, which cost 8.9 bln yuan to build, opened three years ago and was designed and built by engineering giants Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp AG.

Shanghai is planning to extend the line from its current terminus to the domestic airport, although details on the route and cost have not yet been decided.

China is also planning a high-speed link between Shanghai and Beijing, although it is reportedly considering technology other than maglev.

The country has announced plans to spend 250 bln usd over the next 15 years to renovate and expand its network.

What was the result of the home grown Maglev train?
Did it succede or fail?
Thank

[superchan7]

Is this Chinese made high speed locomotive done with Chinese technology?
Or is it using foreign designed component but assemble in China?
Or could it be technology transfer?

I know that China was working on her own high speed train named "China Star" and it could go more than 200Km/H.

I read on Wikipedia that China Star had some teething problems and had to have its speed reduced from 270 km/h to 160 km/h, and then it was taken out of service completely. A second train is in production.

[AlexS2000]

I read on Wikipedia that China Star had some teething problems and had to have its speed reduced from 270 km/h to 160 km/h, and then it was taken out of service completely. A second train is in production.

Thank for the information. I tried to look into Wikipedia, but I could not find.
Could you provide the link so I can get more detail information?
It is not that I don't trust you I would like to read more about it.
Thank

[superchan7]

It's on Chinese Wikipedia, maybe that's why you couldn't find it. There is no English version of this article.

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF%E4%B9%8B%E6%98%9F

[sathya_226]

Can naybody compare indian railway system with chinese ones...which one is much better in quality and service. But both these big asian giants are really engaged in building metro trains ,trams and highspeed trains ..good luck to both these emerging stars of asia..........................................

[hkskyline]

Chinese trains are nowhere as crowded as the Indian ones. You will never see people in China travel on rooftops and hanging along the sides.

[staff]

I have never been on an Indian train, but I'd say that Chinese rail service and standards are much higher than those of India.
If you have a soft seat/sleeper ticker for a Chinese train, you'll have a pretty pleasant experience.

[hkskyline]

Railway transport accounts for a quarter of world's total
29 January 2007
Copyright 2007 China Daily Information Company. All Rights Reserved.

China saw its railway transportation volume account for a quarter of the world's total last year, with only 6 percent of global operational railway mileage, the Ministry of Railways (MOR) has said.

China beat all other countries in passenger and cargo traffic by railway last year, with its passenger turnover hitting 662.2 billion person-kilometers and freight turnover reaching 2.87 billion ton-kilometers, MOR spokesperson Wang Yongping said on Friday.

The general railway turnover also topped the world with a total of 2.86 trillion ton-kilometers, 130 billion ton-kilometers more than that of the United States and one and a half times that of Russia.

Meanwhile, the country has only 76,600 kilometers of railways in operation, making the density of its railway transportation the largest in the world.

"Although China's railways have the highest efficiency of transport, they still lag far behind the nation's economic and social development," said Wang.

The country can provide more than 2.42 million seats for railway travelers every day, only half the number of daily passenger traffic during the peak season of the Spring Festival, China's traditional New Year Festival.

In 40 days starting from February 3, more than 156 million passengers will travel by train, according to the ministry's estimation.

But even before the busiest period, Beijing's largest railway station was already hit by its first peak of passenger traffic.

The Beijing West Railway Station is expected to see 110,000 passengers depart on Saturday, most of them college students going home for winter vacation, said the station's spokesperson Saturday.

While millions of Chinese, the bulk of them students and migrant workers, travel home by train to spend the Spring Festival with their families.

During the Spring Festival, the MOR will strictly regulate ticket sale, crack down on scalpers and improve services aboard like food, water supply and hygiene, said Liu Zhijun, MOR Minister.

"With an extreme shortage in railway transportation capacity, we'll face even bigger pressure for this Spring Festival," said Liu.

He urged the railway departments to ensure the safety of travelers and get fully prepared for emergencies.

[hkskyline]

Station sees passenger flow peak before Spring Festival
29 January 2007
Copyright 2007 China Daily Information Company. All Rights Reserved.

Beijing West Railway Station, the capital's largest station, has reported a peak passenger flow three weeks before the Spring Festival with 110,000 travelers leaving on Saturday.

Most of the passengers were college students on their winter vacation and migrants workers returning home for Spring Festival, according to a station official.

Passenger numbers have been rising and the station has seen an average 100,000 departures per day since Wednesday, up 20 percent year-on-year. The station has arranged 13 extra trains to ease the traffic pressure.

The official said the extra trains should be able to accommodate all travelers and tickets were being sold 10 days in advance.

The Ministry of Railways announced on January 10 that railway ticket prices would not be raised during the Spring Festival period this year. The news has been widely welcomed by the public.

During the past Spring Festival travel season, fares for ordinary hard seats increased 15 percent while those for other seats went up 20 percent.

Beijing's railway stations have opened group ticket-booking offices for migrant workers in large construction companies and have set up ticket sales desks at colleges.

Stations have also opened 24-hour ticket sales windows.

Passengers should be quick to arrange their travel as the fare freeze might attract more travelers, according to railway officials.

The Gaungzhou Railway Station, in the capital of southern Guangdong Province, has also reported a large number of travelers on Saturday with more than 90,000 departures, dramatically up from the usual 70,000.

"Saturday and Sunday will be the high time for the collage students to return home and we have prepared 28 special trains for students," said Zhang Xueke, head of the railway station.

The Ministry of Railways estimates that China's railways will transport an unprecedented 156 million passengers during the 40-day Spring Festival travel peak from February 3 to March 14, up 4.3 percent year-on-year.

Passenger flows will be concentrated in Beijing and Guangzhou during the first 15 days and in Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanchang and Hefei during the remaining 25 days.

The peak is expected to come after the lunar New Year's Day, which falls on February 18 this year, when college students begin to return to school and migrant workers set out for big cities.

[hkskyline]

Bullet trains make slow debut
29 January 2007
Shanghai Daily

Crowds of people packed into the city's two train stations yesterday for the debut of Chinese-made express trains capable of travelling at speeds up to 250 kilometers an hour.

The trains won't travel at top speeds until later this year, but that didn't dampen enthusiasm to be one of the first riders yesterday.

The first high-speed express left the city from Shanghai South Railway Station at 8:30am sharp yesterday, bound for Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. The train was fully packed carrying about 1,200 passengers, according to railway authorities.

From yesterday morning until the end of the peak Spring Festival travel period in the middle of March, seven bullet trains will run between the Shanghai South Railway Station and Hangzhou and the Shanghai Railway Station and Nanjing in Jiangsu Province.

The trains to Nanjing will leave the city every day at 8:44am and 4:04pm.

The trains to Hangzhou will leave the city every day at 8:30am, 10:05am, 1:35pm, 3:58pm and 7:12pm.

Trains will be restricted to a maximum speed of 160 kph during the festival travel period, but are scheduled to begin travelling at higher speeds on April 18, when the national rail network upgrades its speed limits.

New look

The trains don't only run faster than current models, they look very different.

While passengers needed to use a small ladder to get onto old trains, the new bullet trains are built on the same level as railway platforms, making it easier and safer to get on and off.

Both ends of the train are tapered like a bullet, and the inside is less spacious than previous trains.

Seats are laid in rows, all facing the same direction, and the aisle is noticeably narrower than regular trains.

The end result looks a little similar to the city's Maglev trains on the inside.

Each of the trains has several engines, which allow them to travel much faster than older trains.

[superchan7]

The news articles are still leaving out the fact that they are Japanese Shinkansen designs.

I think it might be better if they didn't tell the people in Nanjing...

[hkskyline]

China fires up bullet trains to ease New Year rush

BEIJING, Jan 31 (Reuters) - China is laying on a fleet of 15 brand-new high-speed bullet trains to tackle the passenger rush before and after next month's Chinese New Year holiday when just about the whole country is on the move.

More than 100 drivers and repairmen had been sent to training programmes at universities in Beijing and Sichuan and 34 were licensed to drive the trains, known as CRH (China Railway High-speed), at 200 kph (125 mph) and above, Xinhua news agency said.

"The new bullet trains will begin operating at a top speed of 250 kmh in April, when the Ministry of Railways launches the sixth nationwide rise in the speed limit," it said.

But for safety reasons, the ministry has capped the maximum speed at 160 kmh during the holiday rush, which starts on Feb. 3 and lasts for 40 days.

The ministry said Chinese travellers were expected to make 156 million train journeys over the holiday, the biggest of three "Golden Week" holidays in China when most people try to make it back to their home provinces for family reunions.

The Year of the Pig begins on Feb. 18.

China is ramping up investment in railways, ports, roads and airports to remove transport bottlenecks that could slow its economic expansion.

The capital Beijing is investing some $40 billion in Olympics-related infrastructure projects to prepare for the 2008 Games.

[hkskyline]

Estonian rail company mulls link with Shanghai

TALLINN, Feb 7, 2007 (AFP) - Estonian Railways plans to launch a freight service from the Baltic country's capital to China, in order to grab a slice of rising trade between northern Europe and the Asian giant, the company said Wednesday.

"We intend to open a direct freight service between Tallinn and Almaty so that we could transport container goods from Tallinn via Kazakhstan to Shanghai in China," Estonian Railways marketing director Rene Varek said at a transit trade conference.

"The transportation of rail containers is twice as speedy as that of sea containers on that route," he said.

Estonian Railways, which is state-owned, plans over coming years to increase the total volume of rail container transport it carries from the current 10,000 containers per month to 500,000 a month.

Varek said the opening of the new service would depend on negotiations with Moscow, as the route would cross Russia.

The rail delivery of container goods would take up to 20 days, while sea containers can take from 35-45 days to reach Shanghai from Tallinn.

[hkskyline]

China to develop test "maglev" train by 2010-Xinhua

BEIJING, Feb 11 (Reuters) - China will develop its own magnetically levitated trains that can travel at speeds of up to 500 kilometres per hour, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday citing a government report.

A 30-kilometre-long test line will be built before 2010, said the report from the Ministry of Science and Technology.

So-called "maglev" trains are listed in the "national scientific and technological support projects" of the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010) that aims to "solve crucial science and technology problems that hamper China's economic and social development", Xinhua cited Wang Xiaofang, director of the ministry's planning bureau, as saying.

China already has the only maglev in operation in the world. Launched in 2003 using German technology, it floats for 30 kilometres on a magnetic cushion between the booming coastal city of Shanghai and its international airport in Pudong.

German industrial giant Siemens , which helped develop maglev technology, and steelmaker ThyssenKrupp A.G. lead a consortium that is negotiating to extend the track by 160 kilometres to the city of Hangzhou.

[Andrew]

China already has the only maglev in operation in the world. Launched in 2003 using German technology, it floats for 30 kilometres on a magnetic cushion between the booming coastal city of Shanghai and its international airport in Pudong.
Why do reporters always get this wrong? China has the only HIGH SPEED, COMMERCIAL maglev operation in the world. A number of countries have operating test tracks. In addition, Japan has the Linimo - a commercial low speed urban maglev system operating in the city of Nagoya.

Anyway, that was a bit off topic, it will be good news for China if they do succeed in developing their own high-speed maglev system.

[hkskyline]

China looks to Japan firms for train know-how-paper

TOKYO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The Chinese government has approached Japanese firms about providing technological know-how for a high-speed passenger route between the northern cities of Harbin and Dalian, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd , Hitachi Ltd and East Japan Railway Co. are among the firms that have been approached, the Nikkei said.

The newspaper said European and U.S. firms are also likely to have been approached.

[hkskyline]

3 killed, 34 injured after strong wind derails train in western China
28 February 2007

BEIJING (AP) - A sandstorm packing hurricane-force gusts derailed a train early Wednesday in western China, killing at least three people and injuring 34, state media said.

The 11-car train had just left a station in Turpan, in the Xinjiang region, when it was hit by wind, the Xinhua News Agency said.

"A strong sandstorm cracked window panes soon after the train left Turpan, and blew some of the cars off the rail when we were trying to plug up the windows," Xinhua quoted passenger Su Chuanyi as saying.

Xinhua said rescuers with the Urumqi Railway Bureau had initially put the death toll at four but later corrected it to three fatalities.

At least 100 rescue workers, doctors and police went to the scene of the derailment, which disrupted operations of the Southern Xinjiang Railway, Xinhua said.

The train had been running between the capital city of Urumqi and Aksu, in the west.

Each spring, sandstorms fed by the deserts of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia blow toward Beijing and the eastern seaboard. Sometimes, the dust blows out across the Pacific, clouding the skies of South Korea and occasionally drifting as far as the West coast of the United States.

They were at their worst in the 1950s and '60s after campaigns to raise farm and factory output following the 1949 Communist revolution stripped the soil of vegetation in many areas.

[hzkiller]

毁林共产党有错　但是最主要的是人口增长过快～

[Yardmaster]

Estonian rail company mulls link with Shanghai

TALLINN, Feb 7, 2007 (AFP) - Estonian Railways plans to launch a freight service from the Baltic country's capital to China, in order to grab a slice of rising trade between northern Europe and the Asian giant, the company said Wednesday.

"We intend to open a direct freight service between Tallinn and Almaty so that we could transport container goods from Tallinn via Kazakhstan to Shanghai in China," Estonian Railways marketing director Rene Varek said at a transit trade conference.

"The transportation of rail containers is twice as speedy as that of sea containers on that route," he said.

Estonian Railways, which is state-owned, plans over coming years to increase the total volume of rail container transport it carries from the current 10,000 containers per month to 500,000 a month.

Varek said the opening of the new service would depend on negotiations with Moscow, as the route would cross Russia.

The rail delivery of container goods would take up to 20 days, while sea containers can take from 35-45 days to reach Shanghai from Tallinn.

Interesting. I would like to know what sort of goods might be travelling between Estonia and China, or vice-versa.

I am sure rail is faster than shipping ... but speed is only a factor for higher-priced goods. What holds for Estonia, also holds for Europe.

Running goods- perishables, etc.- between Europe and China via Almaty could be a very profitable operation, provided the infrastructure across Russia ,Kazakhstan, and Western China is up to the job.

20 days? "Around the world in 80 days?"

[hkskyline]

Interesting. I would like to know what sort of goods might be travelling between Estonia and China, or vice-versa.

I am sure rail is faster than shipping ... but speed is only a factor for higher-priced goods. What holds for Estonia, also holds for Europe.

Running goods- perishables, etc.- between Europe and China via Almaty could be a very profitable operation, provided the infrastructure across Russia ,Kazakhstan, and Western China is up to the job.

20 days? "Around the world in 80 days?"

Source : http://www.vm.ee/eng/kat_176/827.html

Estonian foreign trade with China (millions EUR) in 2004
Exports - 28.6
Imports - 127.9

Main export articles in 2004:

Machinery and equipment - 30%
Metals and metal products - 26,7%
Transport vehicles - 20,2%

Main import articles in 2004:

Machinery and equipment - 63,5%
Textiles and textile products - 14,2%

[hkskyline]

UPDATED: 08:20, April 03, 2007
China carries out tests prior to sixth railway speed boost
http://english.people.com.cn/200704/03/eng20070403_363209.html

China's railway authorities Monday started tests for the coming sixth speed boost.

An official with China's Ministry of Railways said passenger trains with a speed of 200 kilometers and above per hour will be tested for several days on the Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Guangzhou railways.

China has been raising train speed limits since 1997, when most were running at a mere 60 kilometers per hour. The new speed boost is scheduled for April 18.

After the speed boost, trains will run at speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour on the Beijing-Harbin, Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Guangzhou railways. In some sections the speed can be raised to 250 kilometers per hour, the international railway speed upper limit.

The coming speed boost will increase the railway system's passenger handling capacity by 18 percent, and its cargo capacity by 12 percent, according to the ministry.

Insiders say a speed of 200 kilometers per hour demands much higher safety standards and hence more work on upgrading trains and tracks.

Railway safety drew public attention after hurricane-force winds derailed 11 carriages of a train in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on February 28, killing three and injuring 34.

Experts with the ministry say trains running at high speed are more likely to be overturned by strong winds.

The ministry has asked a research center to develop a wind warning system.

Source: Xinhua

[Trainman Dave]

Thank you "hkskyline" for this very useful and informative thread. Please keep the information coming.
I am assuming that you read chinese and that you do monitor the chinese language press. With the step up from 160 km/h to 200 km/h the Chinese railways will have to make a significant increase in the capability of their signaling. Unfortunately the chinese english language press does not discus these technical details. If you should find any discussion of signaling technology being installed in the 200 km/h lines, it would be greatly appreciated if you could provide a summary. In particular, are the Chinese railways using the ETCS/ERTMS protocols?

[hkskyline]

Hi. I actually don't monitor the Chinese press for news, since it'll be easier to post English news from mainland media outlets and the international newswires. I need to do some digging to find out what kinds of new signaling technologies they'll be using with this upgrade.

[hkskyline]

China's southernmost city joins national rail network
UPDATED: 19:53, April 13, 2007

China's national rail-ferry network has been extended to the country's southernmost city of Sanya, on the island of Hainan.

Sanya's inclusion comes after the completion of a 364-kilometer rail link with Haikou, capital of Hainan Province.

The service would start on April 18, allowing trains to travel at up to 160 kilometers per hour, almost double the previous speed, said Wen Jianru, vice general manger of Yuehai Railway Corporation, which built the line.

Starting in Sanya, the service would run through nine cities or counties before linking with the ferry to the mainland. Passengers could travel to major mainland cities without transferring, said Wen.

The maiden trips would be to Guangzhou, scheduled to take 15 hours, and Shanghai, taking 36.5 hours. The service to Beijing would begin on April 19 and take 35 hours.

The renovation of the rail link to Sanya, begun in June last year, cost 2.3 billion yuan funded by the provincial government and the Ministry of Railways.

The new service is expected to carry up to 10 million tons of freight a year.

Source: Xinhua

[hkskyline]

UPDATED: 17:02, April 16, 2007
China wholly capable of producing high-speed locomotives

China is already among the countries capable of independently developing high-speed railway locomotives, said Zhang Shuguang, deputy general engineer of the Ministry of Railways on April 12. One of the highlights of the forthcoming speed limit increase across China's trunk lines, he said, will be the wide release of "Harmony" high-speed locomotives that travel at a minimum speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

Only a few countries including Japan, Germany and France have developed the technology for high-speed locomotives, which is a landmark technology in high-speed railways. The project to build locomotives capable of traveling at 250 kilometers per hour began in 2004, with the first trains ready on April 18 for mass operation.

These locomotives are world-class in terms of design, manufacturing techniques, performance, comfort and security, said Zhang. Zhang attributed China's fast progress in locomotive production to a solid national strategy and technological preparation.

First of all, he said, the State decided to "introduce advanced technologies, work with other countries in design and production and develop Chinese brands". Since reform and opening up, China's economic and technological strength has increased, particularly over the last few years. This has made improvements possible, and since the first national railway speed limit increase in 1997, much progress has been made in locomotive operations, communication signals and management. Finally, using imported locomotive technologies as a base, China has pooled resources and focused on assimilation and innovation to produce its own trains in a relatively short term.

By People's Daily Online

[hkskyline]

China Boosts Speed Of Trains To Keep Up With Transport Demand
17 April 2007

SHANGHAI (AP)--Chinese trains running at up to 200 kilometers per hour began service on Wednesday as part of a new bid to keep up with ballooning transport demand, state media reported.

The first of scores of high-speed trains left Shanghai at 5:38 a.m. (2138 GMT) Wednesday morning for the nearby city of Suzhou, covering the approximately 85 kilometers in about 39 minutes, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The speed upgrade is the sixth on China's railways, which provide a vital, low-cost transit link between the scattered regions of the vast nation of 1.3 billion people.

Xinhua cited railway officials as saying Chinese trains carried a quarter of the world's railway freight and passengers last year, although according to track length, China has just 6% of the world's total.

With land availability growing ever-tighter, especially in the heavily populated Yangtze river delta region around Shanghai, increasing speeds is seen as the best way of boosting capacity.

Xinhua quoted Vice Railways Minister Hu Yadong as saying the speed increase would raise passenger capacity by more than 18% and freight capacity by more than 12 percent.

[hkskyline]

China joins club of bullet train nations

SHANGHAI, April 18, 2007 (AFP) - At 5:38 am sharp on Wednesday the sparkling white, futuristic No. D460 train departed Shanghai Station, heralding a new era of high-speed rail travel in China.

Reaching speeds of up to 250 kilometres (155 miles) an hour, the sleek machine covered the 112 kilometres to the neighbouring city of Suzhou in 39 minutes, cutting the journey time nearly in half.

With it, China also joined a small group of the likes of Japan, the United States and most of the European Union, running bullet trains.

"It felt like we were travelling on an airplane," 78-year-old Shanghai resident Chen Lijuan was quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying. "In the past it took more than an hour to get here."

The carriages were spotless, with the seats striped blue and red looking like those on an aircraft, as students, families and businessmen on the Beijing-Tianjin route settled down for the trip, an AFP photographer said.

In keeping with the high-tech image, the trains support WiFi services for those with laptops and other mobile devices wanting to keep in touch.

The Ministry of Railways told AFP that 52 trains had been deployed on short distance services around China aimed at alleviating overcrowding on what is still the nation's most important form of transport.

By the end of the year, the ministry said 108 more trains would be added.

The high-speed era started slowly in southern China, however, when a passenger train broke down between the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, delaying 32 other trains -- including 21 high-speed trains -- for more than five hours, Xinhua reported.

The incident occurred at 7:35 am due to a "mechanical glitch," officials with Guangzhou Railway Group said. They declined to say whether the stalled engine was a high-speed train, Xinhua reported.

Liu Dongwei, a driver on the Shanghai-Suzhou line, said China's train technology had come of age, recalling how only a decade ago average train speeds were less than 50 kilometres an hour.

"My job has become easier -- more like operating an airplane," Liu, 38, said.

China, now the world's fourth-largest economy, is keen to show off the new bullet trains as evidence that it can develop its own technology in key sectors.

But they are still mainly built abroad on the basis of technology transfer agreements with industry heavy-hitters such as Japan's Mitsubishi-Kawasaki, Canada's Bombardier, German giant Siemens and France's Alstom.

The head of Alstom's operations in China, Alain Berger, said that given the complexities involving the installation of new tracks, signalling and power sources, Beijing's achievement was to be applauded.

"It is a huge achievement," said Berger.

The debut of China bullet trains on short-run lines such as Shanghai to Hangzhou, and Beijing to Tianjin, comes after months of testing the locomotives at normal speeds.

It is expected that the trains will expand national railway passenger capacity by 18 percent, or 340,000 seats a day, alleviating ticket shortages, especially during holidays.

However, currently only 6,000 kilometres (3,720 miles) of track can accommodate the high-speed trains, with most restricted to top speeds of between 120 and 160 kilometres an hour on 36,000 kilometres of sub-standard track.

Nevertheless by 2020, China hopes 13,000 kilometres of track, or about one-fifth of the nation's current 77,000 kilometres, will be able to handle bullet trains.

A drawback for the moment is that fares on the new services are nearly 50 percent more than current express trains.

"Tickets are quite expensive," said one passenger, who paid 42 yuan (5.43 US dollars) on the bullet service between Beijing to Tianjin.

The usual price on the fastest express train on the same line is 30 yuan.

Vice Railways Minister Hu Yadong lauded the achievement of what China has called its home-grown technological success.

"That length (of high-speed track) exceeds the total amount of rail lines capable of accommodating trains at that speed in nine European countries," Hu was quoted by the China Daily as saying.

[hkskyline]

UK FIRM PLANS TO STEAM AHEAD IN CHINA VIA BOOMING RAIL SECTOR

BEIJING, April 20 Asia Pulse - Lloyd's Register, a leading risk management services provider, is aiming to achieve compound annual growth of 20 per cent in its China revenue and headcount in the next five years via the nation's booming rail sector, a company executive said.

The British firm provides safety, quality, asset management and classification services for sectors like shipping, rail, oil and gas. It chalked up US$20 million in revenue in China last year, said John Stansfeld, director of Lloyd's Register's Asia operations.

"We have managed to record double-digit growth in the past few years and we aim to keep the compound annual growth rate of at least 20 per cent in our revenue in the next five years," Stansfeld told China Daily.

"We are also planning to increase our workforce in the country by 20 per cent a year at the same time," he said.

Lloyd's Register, which is also the world's leading shipping classification firm, currently boasts about 440 employees in China, of which 350 are based on the mainland.

"Rail and marine sectors will be our principle business focus in China," Stansfeld said.

"The railway sector in particular boasts enormous market potential for us," he added.

China is planning to build 7,000 kilometres of dedicated passenger lines, 4,000 kilometres of double-track lines, and upgrade 8,000 kilometres and 15,000 kilometres of existing track to double-track and electrified lines during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) period, with total investment expected to reach 1.25 trillion yuan (US$162 billion).

"The shift to the hi-tech railway systems also presents us with a huge potential market," Stansfeld said, referring to China's efforts to modernize its extensive rail networks.

China increased its rail speed on Wednesday, the sixth upgrade since 1997.

"We can leverage our safety, efficiency and other expertise in high-speed rail systems to help China's shift to high-speed rail drive," Stansfeld said.

And China's growing volume of railway equipment exports would also spur Lloyd's Register's business in the country, the director said.

"China is now exporting more and more rail system equipment and we could provide certification and other services to help Chinese manufacturers meet overseas requirements," Stansfeld said.

The booming metro sector, Stansfeld said, is another "business driver" for his firm's expansion in China.

Currently, six cities on the mainland have subway systems and more lines are under construction in other cities.

China is expected to overtake Japan as the company's biggest market in the region in the next two years, Stansfeld said.

The London-based firm has seven offices on the Chinese mainland in Dalian, Beijing, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Guangzhou.

It plans to open three new offices in the country next year in Tianjin, Xiamen and Jiangyin.

[hkskyline]

China's railroads may need money infusion
Bloomberg News
19 April 2007

Chinese railroad builders and operators may sell as much as 1 trillion yuan, or $129 billion, in stock and debt by 2020 as they seek to make up for shortfalls from the government and banks, an economist said. Government investment and bank loans presently finance 90 percent of China's rail projects and may fail to provide half of the 2 trillion yuan needed through 2020, said Cao Yuanzheng, chief economist at BOC (International) Holdings.

"China's railways are badly in need of innovative financing modes," Cao said in a speech at a conference Wednesday in Shanghai. "Compared to the steadily increasing transport demands, the investment is insufficient." BOC International is the investment- banking unit of China's second-biggest lender.

China is searching for funds to extend and upgrade its 78,000- kilometer, or 48,500-mile, rail network, the world's third-longest, as its economy grows the fastest among the world's 10 largest. Daqin Railway and Guangshen Railway raised a combined 25 billion yuan through public stock offerings last year.

"Railway companies getting listed is a symbol of China's rail reform, indicating that more and more railways will go public to enlarge investment sources," Cao told the China Rail Financing Summit in Shanghai.

China spends about 0.5 percent of its gross domestic product, or 50 billion yuan to 60 billion yuan annually, on its railroad network, and that is expected to rise to as much as 900 billion yuan in the next 15 years, Cao said.

The world's fastest-growing major economy needs 1.5 trillion yuan in spending on trains and rail lines from 2006 to 2010 and will tap investors at home and abroad, Huang Min, chief economist at China's Ministry of Railways, said in a March 20 interview at the Asia Pacific Rail conference in Hong Kong.

The country faces shortages of at least 40 billion yuan a year in the five years through 2010 as spending surges to five times the historical average, said Hopes Jin, executive director of business development for China at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, which advises China's government on financing. He made the comment during a speech at the Shanghai conference Tuesday.

Possible new financing sources include bonds, public share sales, private equity and institutional investment, Cao said. The capital markets currently supply less than 10 percent of total funding for China's rail system, compared with 62 percent from government sources and 28 percent from bank loans, Cao said.

China Railway Engineering Group, the nation's largest construction company and a former branch of the Ministry of Railways, hired BOC International and other advisers to raise $1.5 billion in an initial public offering of stock, people with knowledge of the plan said in January. China Railway Construction is preparing for a $2 billion initial offering, people familiar with the matter said March 22.

China Construction Bank, the nation's third-biggest lender, and other banks are granting fewer loans to railroad projects as part of a government crackdown on excessive lending.

The central bank on April 5 ordered banks to set aside more money as reserves for the sixth time in less than a year and last month raised interest rates to reduce the risk of loans fueling inflation and asset bubbles.

China Development Bank, a lender controlled by the State Council, will loan 250 billion yuan to the Ministry of Railways in the five years through 2010, said Wang Yongjin, deputy general manager of appraisal at the bank.

[hkskyline]

China Railway Express plans IPO this year-sources

SHANGHAI, April 24 (Reuters) - China Railway Express Co., owned by the Ministry of Railways, is planning an initial public offer of shares in Shanghai late this year, two sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

The company, a rail-based express delivery firm and a partner of national postal service operator China Post, had hired Guotai Junan Securities Co. to help it with IPO preparations, the sources said.

China Railway Express had also hired a global accounting firm to assist it with auditing for the IPO, and that work was expected to be finished soon, they said.

Beijing is reforming its railway system partly by encouraging rail companies to go public, in order to boost their capital and strengthen their management.

The sources said the railway ministry had given approval for the IPO to proceed, but China Railway Express had not yet applied to China's securities regulator. A company spokesman was not available to comment, while Guotai Junan declined to comment.

China Railway Express may also consider listing in Hong Kong at the same time as its Shanghai debut, but no decision had been made, the sources said. "Hong Kong is an option but it will mostly be up to the railway ministry," said one.

[hkskyline]

CHINA ENERGY WATCH: Rail Bottlenecks Hurting Coal Sector
24 April 2007

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--China's inability to ease bottlenecks in its railway network despite investment of CNY155.2 billion ($20 billion) last year risks making it even more exposed to costly coal imports.

Coal output in inland provinces is rising sharply, but officials are grappling with the problem of how to move this core energy feedstock over hundreds of kilometers to consumers on a railway system that's already running near its limits.

At the same time, China's coal import bill is continuing to rise due to its record foreign purchases and higher global coal prices.

Chinese mines produced 2.32 billion metric tons of coal last year compared with just 1 billion tons in 2000, and the rapid expansion of output shows no sign of slowing down.

"China will reach its 2020 coal production target by 2010," when output will reach 2.7 billion tons, said Dong Yan, director-general of the Comprehensive Transport Research Institute, a think-tank of the government's National Development and Reform Commission.

Coal is the primary raw material for thermal power generation in China and currently accounts for just under 70% of the national energy mix, although the NDRC expects this to fall three percentage points to 66.1% by 2010.

Rising consumption has helped spur coal imports from countries including Vietnam and Indonesia, and has prompted the government to change policy to ensure more domestically produced coal is kept at home.

In the first quarter of this year, coal imports rose 61% on year to 14.3 million tons, while exports fell 32% to 11.4 million tons, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

China's major coal producing hubs such as the northern province of Shanxi are located deep in the interior, but consumption is greatest on the eastern seaboard and in its densely populated southern provinces.

Although there has been a trend recently to build more power plants close to coal mines, this has been constrained by past underinvestment in the country's rickety grid.

As a result, most coal is transported to consumers along key rail routes like the line running between Datong city in Shanxi and Qinhuangdao, which is the main port connecting north and south China.

According to Dong, four-fifths of China's projected coal output in 2010 will be transported, with rail alone being responsible for ferrying 1.84 billion tons to consumers.

Zhang Jianping, vice-director general of the department of development and planning at the Ministry of Railways, acknowledged there is a "severe shortage" of transport capacity in spite of recent investment.

"It's far behind the speed of national economic development," Zhang told a recent conference in Beijing run by Coaltrans, a major organizer of coal sector events.

"The out-of-date facilities and equipment can't meet the demands of modern transportation."

One problem is that many of the new coal reserves being found, which will form the basis of future coal production are in regions lacking suitable rail infrastructure for transporting heavy loads.

Such regions include Inner Mongolia where the official Xinhua news agency reported earlier this year that a major geological survey since 2004 has led to the discovery of coal fields that could increase coal reserves by 319 billion tons.

As a result, more rail links are planned and existing track will be upgraded, Zhang said. Tolls, bond issuance and an investment fund would help pay for the work.

But coal is just one commodity jockeying for space on China's rail system, while passenger numbers are rising too.

Zhang said more than 50% of goods transported in China go by rail, and 35% of travelers go as passengers on the rail network.

"Railway construction in East China cannot catch up with the pace of passenger and cargo increases," said Dong.

Waterways, Highways Not The Solution

A headache for China's economic planners is the lack of suitable alternatives to transporting coal by railroad.

The NDRC's think-tank predicted that 338 million tons of coal will be moved on China's highways in 2010, but conceded that such transport doesn't make economic sense.

"Using vehicles that run on gasoline to transport coal is equal to using high-level energy in exchange for low-level energy," said Dong.

Lorries carrying heavy loads frequently cause accidents that result in road closures, while the damage to the road surface means the country has to spend more on maintenance.

This is exacerbated by coal transporters moving to protect their profit margins against vehicle depreciation costs and toll fees by increasing their loads beyond the legal limits.

China also uses inland waterways such as Yangtze river and parts of the historic Grand Canal to transport coal, but increasingly this isn't a viable option as water levels are falling.

Farmers working fields close to rivers use water for their animals and irrigating their crops, while industry needs water for cooling and other processes.

In addition, rivers are often shallow and flow through narrow passages, meaning the average tonnage of the ships is small and that jams often occur.

China's ports are better placed when it comes to sending coal along the coastline, once the fuel reaches them.

Wang Mingzhi, an official at the Ministry of Communications, said there are 460 bulk cargo ships with 14.5 million deadweight tons of capacity for coastal coal transportation, and this basically met demand.

A further 200 million tons of shipping capacity could be used to move coal in the event of a sudden spike in demand.

China is also working to expand its port capacity to stay in step with demand, Wang said. Coal berths constructed in Tianjin municipality, Rizhao in Shandong province, and Tangshan in Hebei province added 135 million tons of port capacity.

But problems still exist and China's ports are at the mercy of the weather and throughput fluctuations, with typhoons battering the coast in the summer and demand having risen by unexpectedly.

From September to December last year a number of ships were forced to wait because port capacity couldn't meet demand, Wang noted.

In addition, he said, some ports get overloaded while there are empty wharves elsewhere as many ports hadn't been adequately connected to the railway network.

Coal throughput at Qinhuangdao rose by 21.8% on-year or 31.66 million metric tons in 2006, while the utilization rates of other coastal terminals was below 70%, Wang said.

[hkskyline]

China sees 150 mln traveling for May holiday
Reuters
Wed Apr 25, 5:24 AM ET

A record 150 million people are expected to take to the road, rail and air during the week-long May Day holiday period, state media on Wednesday quoted officials as saying.

Despite rising complaints that China's three "golden week" vacations each year generate little but crowds, litter and pollution and that their pump-priming effect is waning, the government has no plans to ditch the holidays, the China Daily said.

"With per capita gross domestic product estimated to keep growing, there is huge potential for tourism development during the Golden Week holidays," it quoted the deputy head of the National Tourism Administration, Zhang Ziqin, as saying.

Some officials have previously urged the holidays be scrapped.

This would be a mistake, said Wang Kecheng of the National Bureau of Statistics.

"The system has contributed a lot to boosting domestic consumption and demand, which makes its existence necessary," he was quoted as saying.

This May, more people are expected to travel overseas over May Day and use their cars, the newspaper added, without elaborating.

Six years ago China started week-long holidays centered on National Day in October, Labour Day in May and the traditional Chinese New Year in January or February as a way of boosting domestic spending.

But Chinese people, who have taken with gusto to the idea of vacationing since economic reforms started putting more money in people's pockets, have become frustrated with the government-enforced Golden Weeks.

Tourists have dubbed Golden Week vacations "Golden Porridge," a play on words referring to the hot and sticky swarm of people flooding tourist spots and public transport.

[hkskyline]

http://www.globalphotos.org/shenzhen/20070224/IMG_1399.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/shenzhen/20070224/IMG_1400.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/shenzhen/20070224/IMG_1417.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/shenzhen/20070224/IMG_1397.jpg

[mgk920]

Interesting stuff!

:applause:

A couple of quick thoughts:
-From the photos in this thread, it looks like Chinese railroads are 100% technically compatible with those of North America (track guage, coupling systems, clearances, etc), such that equipment from one can operate on the other with zero modifications, but are mostly incompatible with those of the rest of the nations in Eurasia, sharing only track guage with countries like India, Pakistan and those of western Europe and are completly incompatible with those of Russia.

With the proposals for direct running between China and Pakistan, how are some of the compatibility issues being handled?

-I note that a posting says that China now has the third longest railroad network in the World. Am I correct in that numbers 1 and 2 are the USA and Russia and if so, how do their respective numbers compare?

Mike

[Andrew]

http://www.globalphotos.org/shenzhen/20070224/IMG_1399.jpg

Haha, oh dear, getting just like the British train system!
Late, late, canceled, late ... :lol:

[hkskyline]

Report: China suspends work on new magnetic levitation train over radiation fears
26 May 2007

BEIJING (AP) - Construction of a high-speed "magnetic levitation" train in eastern China has been suspended after complaints about possible radiation effects on nearby residents, a news report said Saturday.

The line linking Shanghai with the nearby city of Hangzhou would be the world's second commercially operating maglev line, following one built from a Shanghai airport to the city's financial district.

The German-developed technology uses powerful magnets to suspend a train above a track and propel it at speeds of up to 450 kph (280 mph).

Work on the 35 billion yuan (US$4.6 billion; euro3.4 billion) project was suspended after complaints from thousands of residents who live near the planned line concerned about the health risk from magnetic radiation, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a Shanghai city government spokesman.

"A major reason for the suspension was the radiation concerns from residents living along the proposed route," the report said, citing the spokesman.

[Tri-ring]

Report: China suspends work on new magnetic levitation train over radiation fears
26 May 2007

BEIJING (AP) - Construction of a high-speed "magnetic levitation" train in eastern China has been suspended after complaints about possible radiation effects on nearby residents, a news report said Saturday.

The line linking Shanghai with the nearby city of Hangzhou would be the world's second commercially operating maglev line, following one built from a Shanghai airport to the city's financial district.

The German-developed technology uses powerful magnets to suspend a train above a track and propel it at speeds of up to 450 kph (280 mph).

Work on the 35 billion yuan (US$4.6 billion; euro3.4 billion) project was suspended after complaints from thousands of residents who live near the planned line concerned about the health risk from magnetic radiation, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a Shanghai city government spokesman.

"A major reason for the suspension was the radiation concerns from residents living along the proposed route," the report said, citing the spokesman.

This is laughable, a nation which would forcefully move millions of people to get what they want decide to postpone because of magnetic radiation which by the way does not have any scientific basis? :lol:

[wigo]

This is laughable, a nation which would forcefully move millions of people to get what they want decide to postpone because of magnetic radiation which by the way does not have any scientific basis? :lol:
That is because the accusion of forceful demolishing is questionable.

[Sen]

does anyone else also notice there has been a resurgence of Japanese trolls lately?

[big-dog]

we don't need to care for those people, their manner and attitude are ruining the image of Japan and Japanese people. let them be. :)

[hkskyline]

Concerns over the magnetic forces used to propel these trains have been around since the technology was researched by the Germans. To-date, there is still inadequate research to conclude how harmful these forces are on health.

[Tri-ring]

You know, it should be a Chinese activist who find this kind of news a problem and not a casual bystander like me.
Prolonged exposure to electro-magnetic radiation have been studied in great length and there are many reports made public.
Although it depends on the strength, the present Transrapid system is no more damaging then high power electric lines.
If you think rationally, you will realize that you living on a very large magnet, the planet earth.
I suggest you get your priority straightened.

[Knuddel Knutsch]

It was planned to use the german transrapid maglev system to build that line.
Its the same system, that connects pudong airport to longyang road station and is being testet on a 30 km test track in Emsland Germany.

They made extensive tests on the electromagnetic radiation.
Also independent institutions like the German TUEV made those tests, and the result was, that those maglev trains have less electromagnetic radiation than a hair dryer and by far less radiation than the overhead power supply of a conventional electrified railway.

So if the chinese engineers are serious about what they say, I suggest they go back to college and take some lessons in electric engineering.

The real reason for not building it, is a political one.I guess its because the germans didnt want to give the core technology to the chinese...but never mind....


http://www.transrapid.de/cgi-tdb/en/basics.prg?session=5438289446580bb2&a_no=76&r_index=2.1

[cal_t]

Don't you guys see the true underlying story?
It's because the Germans are not willing to give the Chinese full transfer of technology; so any random excuse is used to explain the halt in the project.

*Ends conspiracy theory*

[UD2]

well, lack of technology transfer is a completely good reason for not building the line. The fact is a maglev line is way too expensive when compared with its effectiveness. And the only reason why China would want to spend this much money to building a line is to learn the technology and develop it later. If that can't be accomplished, why should China be the ginngy pig for transrapid. Certainly 300km/h high speed rail would more than adaquately do the job.

Japan has had maglev technology for decades, but to date no a single operation line exists. The sole reason being it is too expensive to be worth the investment.

So even if the claims on health risks is phony (which at this point we don't know becauses SMT is the only operational line in the world), not building the line is a perfect economical decision.

IT IS NOT POLITICAL..................................

and can we please get rid of the flame starting trolls. =-)

[Tri-ring]

If pointing out the facts is trolling then I am guilt as charged but then you only have a$$ licking mindless propaganda followers at any forum.

PRC was demanding Transrapid transfer of technology which Transrapid refused, so PRC announces postponement of Shanghai-Hangzhou route because of baseless accusation concerning environment safety to save face.

No it is not POLITICAL it's petty PRIDE.

How can you trust a govenment if they can't swallow it up and do their sworn duties to show accountability?

If it was truely an environment safety concern then they should shut down the present line as well and announce whatever data they based their concern and have a third party to examine it.

[ningxiard]

If pointing out the facts is trolling then I am guilt as charged but then you only have a$$ licking mindless propaganda followers at any forum.

PRC was demanding Transrapid transfer of technology which Transrapid refused, so PRC announces postponement of Shanghai-Hangzhou route because of baseless accusation concerning environment safety to save face.

No it is not POLITICAL it's petty PRIDE.

How can you trust a govenment if they can't swallow it up and do their sworn duties to show accountability?

If it was truely an environment safety concern then they should shut down the present line as well and announce whatever data they based their concern and have a third party to examine it.


You based all of your judgement on a ten-line story, then started your anti-Chinese government ranting. Don't you find yourself simple-minded? :ohno: This short story is from the AP, since when did we ever read any objective and comprehensive coverage on Chinese issues from them? This news story was first released by local Chinese media, and then some foreign media like the AP just intentionally picked up particular fragments of the whole story to present to their readers, and then some stupid readers instantly jumped to quick conclusions out of their pre-set minds.

Why shouldn't the radiation be a concern? Do you know the huge difference between the neighborhoods the current mag-lev line and the proposed line run across? Apparently you know nothing, so please stop making yourself an ignorant and noisy fool.

There have been lots of debates about this Shanghai-Hangzhou mag-lev line in China since the very first day it was proposed. The huge investment, the safety, the interest-conflict between the Shanghai and Zhejiang government, the recent changing of leaders in Shanghai and the ensuing power struggle, and of course also the big mess of technology transfer, all these issues have been entangled together on these mag-lev lines. Of course I am sure there are still some inside stories and hidden politics that the general public in China and also the rest of the world would never know, simply because of the control of Chinese government on our media. But wouldn't it be more interesting if we look at the whole thing from multiple perspective? And also, could some ideologically-charged guys stop ranting and dishing out those simple-minded judgements after reading just a ten-line story from a crappy new source like the AP? The world would be such a better place if these guys didn't exist.

[Tri-ring]

You based all of your judgement on a ten-line story, then started your anti-Chinese government ranting. Don't you find yourself simple-minded? :ohno: This short story is from the AP, since when did we ever read any objective and comprehensive coverage on Chinese issues from them? This news story was first released by local Chinese media, and then some foreign media like the AP just intentionally picked up particular fragments of the whole story to present to their readers, and then some stupid readers instantly jumped to quick conclusions out of their pre-set minds.

Why shouldn't the radiation be a concern? Do you know the huge difference between the neighborhoods the current mag-lev line and the proposed line run across? Apparently you know nothing, so please stop making yourself an ignorant and noisy fool.

There have been lots of debates about this Shanghai-Hangzhou mag-lev line in China since the very first day it was proposed. The huge investment, the safety, the interest-conflict between the Shanghai and Zhejiang government, the recent changing of leaders in Shanghai and the ensuing power struggle, and of course also the big mess of technology transfer, all these issues have been entangled together on these mag-lev lines. Of course I am sure there are still some inside stories and hidden politics that the general public in China and also the rest of the world would never know, simply because of the control of Chinese government on our media. But wouldn't it be more interesting if we look at the whole thing from multiple perspective? And also, could some ideologically-charged guys stop ranting and dishing out those simple-minded judgements after reading just a ten-line story from a crappy new source like the AP? The world would be such a better place if these guys didn't exist.

Wow ! A hard-core communist fundamentalist.
First look at the facts.
It is electromagnetic radiation not particle radiation, electromagnetic radiation is floating all-over our modern world. Cell-phones, radio, television, electric power lines, so on and so forth. Any kind of metallic coil that runs electrcity radiate electromagnetic radiation. As I stated before our own planet radiates electromagnetism.
Danger to prolonged exposure has been long studied and their is no toxicity as long as it is within certain levels. The German TUEV tested them and certified them. PRC accepted those figures, that is why the Shanghai-airport line was approved and built in the first place.

I have gone through this couple of threads and picked up some posting that the local, municipal and other governmental bodies approved this project with praise.
Here are the links;

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...ent_868138.htm

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=10055464&postcount=128

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=7153771&postcount=74

If they decided to postpone they should have announced the facts not some lame cover up story which doesn't hold water in the first place and smear dirt into Germany to keep their own face.

If their were protest concerning this project and you had concerns, why didn't you voice them when they first announced the project?

[hkth]

Delete.

[UD2]

To shed some light on the ever developing question of why they might be delaying the Transrapid construction.

Here's a picture of another Maglev train, only this time made by Changchun Passanger Train Works. Two end cars have been manufactured so far and both are under testing in Shanghai's TongJing University.

This is actually a really old trick in the books. Its more like a warning to the Germans saying that you can either give us the technology and have us pay you for it, or we can just build it our selves in a couple more years and you won't get a cent.

The Russians had to bite the bullet the last time they rejected to give tech transfers for the Su-27upgrade kits to Shenyang Aircraft Works, and shortly after that they lost all orders for the Su-27 and Su-30MKK. Shenyang is now happily making their own version of the upgraded Su-27s with 100 percent Chinese made parts.

Let's hope the Germans don't make the same mistake.

http://bbs.hasea.com/attachments/forumid_29/20070526_9985617a8c326d4bf9011KcnS3rMfvD0.jpg

[pflo777]

wahooo, now this is what I call a chinese copy....

Are more pitctures of that train availabe? Where in Shanghai is the test track, how long is it and how fast do they want to go with that maglev?

I wonder if its compatible to the existing maglev line in Shanghai (SMTDC) and if they want to use it, to extend the line sooner or later without zu germans.

I cant believe it... the guidway, the vehicle itself, the levitation frames...everything looks exactly the same then it does on the german original!!!!!

Do they plan to make something like a public presentation of this?

[pflo777]

its time that western politicians do something about this technology theft...it cant go on like this.....

If you want to buy oil, you have to pay for it. If you want to buy a car, you have to pay for it. If you want technology...well. then you can steal it or what??????

Thats crazy, germany should seirously think about consequences on that...

[Tri-ring]

<Edited>

This is actually a really old trick in the books. Its more like a warning to the Germans saying that you can either give us the technology and have us pay you for it, or we can just build it our selves in a couple more years and you won't get a cent.

The Russians had to bite the bullet the last time they rejected to give tech transfers for the Su-27upgrade kits to Shenyang Aircraft Works, and shortly after that they lost all orders for the Su-27 and Su-30MKK. Shenyang is now happily making their own version of the upgraded Su-27s with 100 percent Chinese made parts.

Let's hope the Germans don't make the same mistake.



This could easily flash over to become a trades war with EU if PRC keeps it up.
Yeah, I know. PRC's logic is that since China is a big market, EU would turn a blind eye and let this fly as usual...
EU may accept defeat or EU may use it's influence over the finacial industry to place pressure using nation credit evaluation rate as leverage.
Remember they have to save face as much as PRC does.
I also wonder how the German automobile industry which is investing heavily in mainland china, would respond to this kind of extortion also.
In any case PRC is losing whatever international reputation they had left with these kind of stunts.

[pflo777]

the Point is, that in the not to distant future, all Businismen and Politicians in Europe and the US will find out, that you cannot make any money in deals with china, simply because you whole know how, all technologies and patenst are stolen and used against you after some years.

Just look at that Brilliance BMW thing...Maybe BMW is making some money in China, actually most western fims dont, and just hope they will do so in the future what keeps investments flowing...but in some years, they will find out, that they lost much more than they gained.

And dont forget, that most western countries already do have a negative import-export ration with china....

[financial way]

whatever, we will be the winner.

japan? keep licking your master's ass.

US? for PPP GDP you are not the largest economy anymore in next two years.

no body care about your investments, if you don't want, just leave it.

we can make everything soon by ourself.

did japan copy and stolen tec before? yes, thousands years from China, and

200 years from the west. still using chinese now, still copy french car now.

there is no that most western countries ... blablabla...

only you alone, USA.

[pflo777]

thanks,

its good that the chinese start showing their real face.

[snow is red]

I would like to ask japanese members here a question, Why are u guys so concerned about China and its issues, I dont really see any Chinese members on this forum participate in any Japan-related topics/issues.

[snow is red]

Financial way, please watch your words, you are not doing any good for China. This guy does not represent Chinese people at all.

[pflo777]

that guy is unimportant...the facts speak enough about china today.

Does anybody have any inforamtion about that Chinese-Copy Transrapid?

Maybe some more pics of the vehicle and the track?

Maybe someone could find some on the website http://bbs.hasea.com and link them here?

[Tri-ring]

I would like to ask japanese members here a question, Why are u guys so concerned about China and its issues, I dont really see any Chinese members on this forum participate in any Japan-related topics/issues.

Concerned?
Interested maybe, well come to think of it a little concerned since we are seeing alot of problems lately.
Although the following maybe off topic but, there has been a rise of industrial espionage cases by PRC citizens and a few agaisnt the JMSDF.
I also notice alot of hazardous exports like the tainted dog food and proceed fish meat in the US, tainted medicine in middle America and lead tainted cookingware in Japan that is creating a scare globally.
As for forum participation, for your information their are tons of CCP trolls rampaging various Japanese forums making baseless accusations.

There are trade secrets, patended ideas, and copyright art work. They are all proprietary with people and companies alike investing huge amount of their time and money to develop them.
If PRC does not understand the fundamental concept then it will not be long before everybody starts leaving because there is not enough insentive how ever large to justify violation of their proprietary assets.

[snow is red]

Please do not feed other trolls, keep this forum peaceful please. Yes China has a lot of works to do like her food industry, the government needs to track down the criminals and punish them. The chinese government already has a 5 year plan to improve the country's food safety standards. And for the German maglev, I hope the maglev that being developed by the shanghai university is not a copy of the german one, I hope they just learn from the German tech and design the trains and track on their own, or even better that China just buy off the technology from germany, mutual benefits.China has been investing a lot in R&D, so please do not assume that everything China made is a ripoff, copy. :) Yes maybe they took/copy the external design but tech is self developed.

Thank you for reading :)

[snow is red]

pflo777

I just found interesting articles here if you dont mind reading them :)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070211-18362900-bc-china-maglev.xml



"Even after the German government intervened to clarify the issue, the public was not entirely convinced. Germany began to feel uneasy at this time....."

"German national television said people should be aware of two issues following the accident. Firstly, Germany must admit that Chinese people have their own technology. Chinese experts have spent 20 years tackling these technological challenges; "the Chinese have been studying maglev technology carefully so that they will be able to compete in five years." Secondly, they need to concede that the German technology is not as "miraculous" as was believed. Germany certainly has room for improvement. ....."

http://english.people.com.cn/200608/17/eng20060817_294049.html


"Nowadays, there are three types of magnetic levitation technology in the world, namely, superconducting electromagnetic levitation, normal-conducting electromagnetic levitation and permanent magnetic levitation. The first one is developed and possessed by Japan. The second is developed and owned by Germany. The third is independently developed by the Dalian permanent magnetic levitation project team, and is an innovation completely controlled by China. It is an entirely new technology......"

http://english.people.com.cn/200607/24/eng20060724_286049.html

"The Dalian permanent magnetic levitation project team started to do research on permanent magnetic levitation in 1998. From 1998 to 2006, the project team made a number of breakthroughs and devised many innovative techniques. On August 7th 2003, a magnetically levitated vehicle made by the team for conveying park visitors was successful in the operation test, indicating that China has its own magnetic levitation technology. After that, the project team succeeded in solving 5 major technical issues. On December 26th 2004, they made a permanent maglev train that made satisfactory performances on a 70-meter long track during operation test.

Magnetic engine is the core technique of a maglev train. The magnetic engine inside a permanent maglev train is a decentralized power device developed by China on its own. This type of engine can help to cut costs dramatically and can reduce energy consumption by about 50 percent. The Dalian project team has managed to develop two types of magnetic engines, one with traction of 105 newtons and the other with traction of 15,000 newtons. The former, with a rated velocity of 140 kilometers per hour and a maximum velocity of 218 kilometers per hour, aims to be used in low-speed permanent maglev train. The latter, with a rated velocity of 268 kilometers per hour and a maxim velocity of 536 kilometers per hour, can be adopted in medium-speed passenger or cargo permanent maglev train....."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/11/content_5725990.htm

http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/logistics/2007/02/21/500kph-maglev-trains-on-test-by-2010/



As you can see , China does sincerely want to develop its own technology to serve its people, China is investing a lot of money into R&D, therefore I believe Chinese scientists can come up with their own development, as you can read from those articles above, Chinese have been studying maglev tech for the past 20 years, they dont just come up with that technology from nowhere.Yes the current German maglev tech is far better than the Chinese, and chinese maglev tech will have a lot of problems but they are trying to tackle these problems.

And even if Chinese want to build the maglev on their with German tech , i am pretty sure the Chinese government will pay to buy off the patent like they when they bought the high speed bullet trains technology from Germany, France and Japan (The chinese sides pay them all).

So lastly, please dont quickly assume that Chinese scientists cannot develop its own technology, and all they can do is to copy.They are doing hard work there too :)

Thank you for reading

[pflo777]

it would be very helpfull if we could get more information on the maglev that is shown on the big picutre.

Maybe some of the chinese speaking guys could translate that for me:( as al the online translators suck)



http://news.21cn.com/domestic/yaowen/2007/05/16/3234841.shtml



记者：长客最近在产品研发方面还有哪些新动向？

董晓峰：我们已经研制出了时速达到350公里的动车组，将在明年投入“京津城际轨道”运行，这条线路区间大概是120公里左右，中间有几个站点，全程运行时间只需20多分钟。






长客董事长董晓峰 本报记者 郭亮 摄


记者：350公里是我们已经研制出的最高速度吗？

董晓峰：其实，长客从2003年起即开始研制磁悬浮列车，这个项目得到了国家支持，被列入“863计划”，它的速度更快，设计时速达到550公里。

记者：磁悬浮列车研究进展怎么样？

董晓峰：几年来，这方面研制经费已投入了近亿元，现已生产出一辆约27米长的车头，它代表着国内在这方面最尖端的科技。目前，这辆“磁悬浮”正在上海某大学进行“悬浮试验”，测试悬浮状态下的设施运行情况，结果令人满意。由于试验段只有一公里长，现在还没办法测试它的真正速度，到底何时测试实际运行速度，还要看国家有关方面的具体安排。

昨日，长春轨道客车股份有限公司董事长董晓峰接受了本报记者独家专访。据他透露，长客已研制出一辆设计时速达550公里的磁悬浮列车车头，正在上海某大学进行试验。

动车组

国外公司抢着和我们合作

记者：外界对于4月18日起投入使用的动车组一直很感兴趣，在它的研制过程中，您最难忘的事情是什么？

董晓峰：动车组的技术是从国外引进的，合作过程中遇到许多难题。说到最难忘的事，是在选择合作对象时，掌握这门技术的一些国外公司都抢着和我们合作。事后我分析了，他们主要是看好了中国经济的发展速度和高速列车的发展前景，及长客的实力。|

记者：技术既然是引进的，那么在合作过程中，我们除了动车组，还有其他的收获吗？

董晓峰：国外公司的目的是赚钱，我们的目的是引进并学习。外方在合作中，也想在某些技术方面对我们有所制约，但双方接触后，我们也得到了想要的东西。

记者：我是不是可以这样理解，通过合作，我们掌握了动车组的相关研发技术？

董晓峰：我同意你的理解。

人们对动车组晚点很敏感

记者：投入使用后的动车组也遇到了一些麻烦，比如说列车晚点成了新闻，您怎么评价这件事？

董晓峰：过去中国铁路交通是低速时代，慢车出了问题晚一点，大家也不在意。现在逐渐进入了高速时代，大家对运行速度就比较敏感了，一旦有事都挺关注，这很正常。

记者：您认为是什么问题导致了动车组的晚点？

董晓峰：晚点不只在北方，南方也出现了这个问题。我分析原因主要有五个，第一是动车组本身调试周期短，还有一些没调试到位，需要一些时间；第二是个别操作者还没摸透驾驶方法，因为操作不当而出现故障；第三是维护和保养方面，高速技术对中国企业是个课题，对铁路运营单位也有个适应问题；第四是运行环境，国外运行线路没有道砟，都是水泥面，车快起来也不会飞沙走石，不存在把车打坏的情况；第五是网压不稳的问题，动车组运行需要电网的网压稳定在2.2万伏左右，一旦网压超出一定幅度，动车组会启动自我保护装置进入低速运行状态。

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Edit: somehow the fancy green white livery of that maglev looks like it was made to match the Expo Logo...what would have made sence, if the line was extended...

http://img.search.com/thumb/e/e2/Shanghai_World_Expo.gif/73px-Shanghai_World_Expo.gif

[Tri-ring]

First off, I don't know were one news source got it's 20 years research when the other article clear claims;
The Dalian permanent magnetic levitation project team started to do research on permanent magnetic levitation in 1998.

Second, since the articles does not specify the fundemental principle for the so called "permanent magnetic levitation" so I can not be sure but,the transrapid system uses "ferromagnetic stator" or permanent magnets so from what I can read from the article I can not see any difference.
In other words, the article is basically writing vaporware without any substance.

Patents are usually not sold, they are leased since owners of that patent will be able to make more profit through this arrangement. I am sure none of the nations you mentioned sold their proprietary assets. I also believe that they placed clauses within the contract stating that they will terminate any arrangement if they find PRC infringing the contract.

[wigo]

There are tons of articles talking about "permanent magnetic levitation", but they are mostly in Chinese so you have to search "永磁悬浮"。

This is one article:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/st/2006-06/08/content_4664370.htm

Which clearly states that "permanent magnetic levitation" differ from all other existing technology in that electricity is not needed, because some "permanent magnetic material" is used. These "permanent magnetic material" originates from rare earth elements, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element. China has abundant such resources, highest in the world maybe, in Inner Mongolia.

The permanent magnetic levitation is a brand-new concept.

[didu]

wahooo, now this is what I call a chinese copy....



If I understand correctly, that "copy" has a top speed of 550k/hr. Maybe your German trains can go as fast or faster, but that doesn't mean the Chinese shouldn't be able to do the same.

In terms of IP, if the technology of your German trains are patented, then sooner or later, the patents will expire and then the technology will be fair game to anyone. China can just wait for a few decades and save its money. If your technology is kept as commercial secrets, then you have to take the risk of your secrets getting out.

I don't see the benefit for China to spend huge quantities of money on foreign maglev trains. The technology is obviously too expensive to implement on even a broad regional level, and there are plenty of alternative transportation systems that are much less costly and could function in a similar capacity as the maglev trains. Put it simply, from China's perspective, it doesn't make much commercial sense to simply pay large amounts of cash to your Germans to build a couple of train lines in a region that already has an excellent transportation network.

After all, this is business. If you Germans feel you are getting a bad deal, feel free to pull out and terminate the negotiations -- that way, you Germans get to keep your advanced technology, and the Chinese get to keep their cash, or spend their cash on other things.

[snow is red]

pflo and tri-ring

Your comments are appreciated, but please do not quickly jump to wild conclusions. There is no doubts about German, and Japanese great advanced technology, but it does not mean that China has to copy from Germany, she can do her own bit as well :)

Didu, I have to say that i do not agree with you, you only can say that when the tech is successfully tested in 2010. :)

Thank you for reading

[tiger]

There is no doubts about German, and Japanese great advanced technology

^Who knows?

[Tri-ring]

There are tons of articles talking about "permanent magnetic levitation", but they are mostly in Chinese so you have to search "永磁悬浮"。

This is one article:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/st/2006-06/08/content_4664370.htm

Which clearly states that "permanent magnetic levitation" differ from all other existing technology in that electricity is not needed, because some "permanent magnetic material" is used. These "permanent magnetic material" originates from rare earth elements, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element. China has abundant such resources, highest in the world maybe, in Inner Mongolia.

The permanent magnetic levitation is a brand-new concept.

Ah, hello !!
In case you didn't know, permenent magnets can't change polarity unless extreme heat and magnetism is applied and the process is slow.
The underlying principle for any type of maglev propulsion is to utilize the repulsion-attraction effect of magnets and switch the polarity so continuous motion is achieved.
The only way I can think of to switch polarity using permenent magnets is by mechanically turning them around which is nonsense since it will take much more power than electro magnets.
It is meaningless to claim of another method since both method can not be patented in the first place.
Technical patents for Transrapid lays within the track design, switching mechanism, power management and various other hardware and software to operate the system.
Now if the previous picture is truely what it claims to be, then there is already suspicion of patent infringement in track design which I do not think Transrapid will take lightly.

[pflo777]

the germans sold the patents for the track already in 2001, when the first line was built.
They were also willing to "give up" the construciton of the vehicle itself and the interior and let this be done by chinses firms.
( a joint venture partner that builds the cabin)
What they were never willing to give up was the core technology of the levitation system.

You could compare it to Boeing (USA) and Rolls Royce (GB) One makes the planes, the other one the engines.

In this case, China would have made about 90% and Germany 10%.
But that was not enought for the chinese side.....

Well, we`ll see what the future will bring..

[wigo]

Ah, hello !!
In case you didn't know, permenent magnets can't change polarity unless extreme heat is applied and the process is very slow.
The underlying principle for any type of maglev propulsion is to utilize the repulsion-attraction effect of magnets and switch the polarity so continuous motion is achieved.
The only way I can think of to switch polarity using permenent magnets is by mechanically turning them around which is nonsense since it will take much more power than electro magnets.
It is meaningless to claim of another method since both method can not be patented in the first place.
Technical patents for Transrapid lays within the track design, switching mechanism, power management and various other hardware and software to operate the system.
Now if the previous picture is truely what it claims to be, then there is already suspicion of patent infringement in track design which I do not think Transrapid will take lightly.

I guess you did have something that you don't know although you sound like an expert or something.
I am not an expert, but it is easy for me to figure out that the permenant magnetic is only for leviation, but not for propulsion.
Feel free to report to Transrapid.

[snow is red]

the germans sold the patents for the track already in 2001, when the first line was built.
They were also willing to "give up" the construciton of the vehicle itself and the interior and let this be done by chinses firms.
( a joint venture partner that builds the cabin)
What they were never willing to give up was the core technology of the levitation system.

You could compare it to Boeing (USA) and Rolls Royce (GB) One makes the planes, the other one the engines.

In this case, China would have made about 90% and Germany 10%.
But that was not enought for the chinese side.....

Well, we`ll see what the future will bring..

oh i thought the maglev trains in shanghai was made entirely using German technology according to Chinese newsagency. So the chinese side did take part in the shanghai maglev ??

The chinese tech is still being developed, it is not even tested yet whereas the German tech is fully tested and certified. So it is better to leave most part to German side.

[didu]

What they were never willing to give up was the core technology of the levitation system.


So in other words, the Germans kept the core technology as commercial secrets. Since they already made money by selling the "non-core" technologies to the Chinese, you cannot blame the Chinese for wanting to get the "core" technologies so that the money they spent on the "non-core" technologies are not wasted.

[pflo777]

So in other words, the Germans kept the core technology as commercial secrets.

What you call commercial secret is Intellectual Property in reality.
Thats how capitalism works.
One guy spends billions to develop something and the other one buys it.
And next time its the other way around.

As it was planned to make a cooperation, the germans sold the core technologies of the guidway and the vehicle to the chinese. But not the levitation system. Why should they?

Germany is not making money by selling core technologies but by selling technological products, whats wrong with that?

Russia sells oil and gas, we sell high tech products like BMW`s and maglevs.

It would have been a wonderfull cooperation, I mentioned the example of boeing and Rolls Royce.
Now this way, it wont be...


From your point of view, how should the bi-national economic relation between germany and china look like in the future, if china wants us to give them all our technolgies, then produce all that stuff by themselfes and not bying any goods from us?

[UD2]

K guys, again with the off topic.

Plain and simple; China wants the technology, and if the Germans are not willing to give up their secrets then China will not buy their trains.

It's a very striaght forward business deal, let's not make it more than it is.

[Prestonian]

It may be a business deal but it is not a fair one and to me China is acting like a bully and a thief. It takes a lot of money to develop these technologies (much of it taxpayer money in Germany) and it is not fair for China to steal it after putting up none of the hard cash and effort. If it doesn't want to pay the fair price for the German technology and intellectual property then it has every right to. What it does not have the right to do is back out of deal in a manner that blackens the name of the German technology (health concerns!) only to then pull an exact copy out of the hat. That is a rude, offensive and arrogant attitude that will lose China friends, suport and respect and will create resentment and enemies.

China has a right to learn and a right to develop things but at the moment it does neither of those things, it imports, it copies, it changes the name and it re-sells (some sensitive transrapid documents were also mysteriously stolen in China). Pretty soon western firms will open their eyes to this and stop the flood of capital that is allowing China to grow.

Growth in the modern capitalist system is based on ideas and knowledge and these must be protected for the process to continue. If you cannot protect your work from prying eyes seeking to steal all the benefits with none of the time, money or effort put in then why put the effort in? Technology and development will stagnate and along with it the economy. IMO China treads very very dangerous ground in disrespecting the intellectual property of western (and other eastern) firms.

[didu]

It may be a business deal but it is not a fair one and to me China is acting like a bully and a thief.

Not "maybe", it is a business deal. I think Germany is acting like a bully and robber.


It takes a lot of money to develop these technologies (much of it taxpayer money in Germany) and it is not fair for China to steal it after putting up none of the hard cash and effort.

It costs a lot of money to build these trains -- Chinese money to be precise. It's not fair for Germany to sell something to China for a price that's not acceptable to the Chinese. The train in SH cost 10 billion yuan to make -- most of that is Chinese money. The train in SH is also the only commercially operating train in the world. The capacity of the train is 440 people, the trip takes 7 minutes with 15 minutes intervals from 7:00 to 21:00, each ticket costs 50 yuan, assuming every train is full and ignoring the inflation, the time it takes for the Chinese to get even with their investment would be:

10 * 1000 * 1000 * 1000 / (365.0 * (14 * 60 /(7+15)) * 50 * 440) = 32.77 years .

In reality, if the trains were half full 30% of the time, it would easily take more than 50 years to break even, and that doesn't even take into account the normal operating cost.

However wonderful your German technology is, this investment is still heavily in favor to you Germans. 10 billion yuan over 32 years can get a lot of research done in China. The Chinese spent the money on your German trains, and your Germans are getting huge free publicity out of it. I don't see


If it doesn't want to pay the fair price for the German technology and intellectual property then it has every right to. What it does not have the right to do is back out of deal in a manner that blackens the name of the German technology (health concerns!) only to then pull an exact copy out of the hat. That is a rude, offensive and arrogant attitude that will lose China friends, suport and respect and will create resentment and enemies.

Gee, if you Germans think you are getting a bad deal, then you should back out the deal gracefully, instead of waging a smear campaign against the Chinese technology. That's a rude, offensive and arrogant attitude that will lose Germans lots of business and respect in China.

[Trainman Dave]

This forum is beginning to detiorate into a useless argument about business practices. I have been participating in technology exchanges with China since the late 1970's. Every piece of technology which I ever brought to China had to be adapted for the conditions in China at the time of the exchange.

I have never seen Japanese, European or American technology applied directly in China without adaption. Major western companies have to do business in China with their eyes open and they should understand that their technology will be adapted.

Technology evolves as it disperses arround the markets. For fixed guide way transportation, the single biggest market for the next 20 years will be China and by 2050 most railways and/or maglev systems will be buying their components from China unless they are being manfactured cheaper in India or Indonesia

[ningxiard]

Wow ! A hard-core communist fundamentalist.

I have gone through this couple of threads and picked up some posting that the local, municipal and other governmental bodies approved this project with praise.
Here are the links;

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...ent_868138.htm

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=10055464&postcount=128

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=7153771&postcount=74

If they decided to postpone they should have announced the facts not some lame cover up story which doesn't hold water in the first place and smear dirt into Germany to keep their own face.

If their were protest concerning this project and you had concerns, why didn't you voice them when they first announced the project?

I am a hard-core communist fundamentalist? Are you serious?! Your comment and this post proved again you are a simple-minded and ideologically-charged fool! Did I ever defend Chinese government on this mag-lev line? Did I ever say that Chinese government was correct with first proposing and then suspending this project? Of course I didn't! What I am against is you simple-minded attitude. You rushed to a quick and instant conclusion based on extreme limited information, that's what makes you stupid, you still don't get what I saying?

I am not a physicist, my Ph.D. is in molecular biology. I don't have the authority to judge if this proposed new line is safe or not in terms of the radiation. That's not the main point of my previous post either. What I was talking about is, because the previous line runs across sparsely-populated suburb, while the proposed new-line runs aross neighborhood with very very high population density, the reaction from the local rsidents are totally different; particularly for those people living in Minhang district where the new line will run across, there have been huge number of complaints from them to the local government. Call them bad-informed stupid mass if the radiation shouldn't be a concern at all, or blame the government for not giving them enough education on this project. Whatever the problem is, the reality is lots of the local residents are resentful to this new line, and based on the information I know, it's one of the driving force, if not the decisive one behind the suspension of this project.

"smear dirt into Germany to keep their own face"? From I read on the Chinese media (which is the original source of all those crappy second-handed information from the AP or whateve), no one ever blamed Germany for the safety concern with radiation, and nobody said that's the only reason why the project was suspended. I'll say that again, you started all you ranting and fantasy based on a ten-line story from the crappy information souce of the AP, that makes you a fool. I was teaching you to look at things from multiple perspective and try to get more information from different souces before you make judgement, and you instantly put a laughable title like "hard-core communist fundamentalist" on me, that makes you even more foolish!

My main point in the previous post and also this one is not about the radiation safety or the transfer of technology, it's about the complicated situation behind the whole story. I have no idea why some people, like Tri-ring and pflo777, could have such pre-set and simple mind. Don't you still understand that there are lots of inside politics and power struggle behind the suspension? One of the stories I heard is that we got a new party secretary back in Shanghai after the previous one was sacked for corrpution just a while ago, he wants to establish his authority by targeting on this Shanghai-Hangzhou mag-lev line, which has been considered to be a white-elephant project by lots of people in China. Is that everything? We'll probably never know. That's sad, but that's the situatin in today's Chinese politics.

"If their were protest concerning this project and you had concerns, why didn't you voice them when they first announced the project?" I am not sure if you were referring to me or the people back in Shanghai. If it's me, OK, as I said before, I didn't make any conclusion on the safety issue at all. I don't live in China right now, and the neighborhood my family live in is pretty far away from both the present and the proposed mag-lev line, so why should I protest against them when I have no definitve answer about the saftey issue? Go home and get a life, Tri-ring!

[wigo]

I don't think there is any hard proof of stealing, perticularly no accusation from any reliable source, such as Transrapid itself. Otherwise, China would have not negociated with Germany if the core technology had been obtained already.

I won't deny that the body of Tongji test vehicle is similar to Transrapid (I honestly don't know). But as pflo777 pointed out, there are some patents sold by German firm to China already. So the issue is what is the mechanics of Tongji test vehicle instead of its appereance. Some jets of Boeing are similar to some of Airbus; there are also a lot of cars of different brands are similar. Does it matter? The answer is no.

The issue is simple, the deal has not been made yet. And now, China does not want to go ahead. Unless someone is sure about China having core technology inappropiately, please shut up.

[chewys]

It is obvious to me that the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev is economically not feasible. A high speed train is much best better solution. It cost less than half of maglev train line. The 10 minutes difference in travelling time to Hangzhou will not make much of a difference. Infact ticket prices is more important for commuters. Also, it could use existing train line, and precious land reserved for maglev can thus be used for building more apartments etc.


I say good riddance. China should have done it earlier (i.e stop this silly maglev nonsense) and not wait until the central government got rid of Chen Lianyu.

[pflo777]

It's not fair for Germany to sell something to China for a price that's not acceptable to the Chinese.

no one forces you to buy our stuff.

If you cant afford it. let it be. Or work harder, so that one day, youll be albe to afford it.

I cant afford a Maybach either.

That doesnt give me the right to steal the technology and build one by myself.



But as pflo777 pointed out, there are some patents sold by German firm to China already

Those were the patents for the production of the guidway.
It was intended, that the Shanghai-Hanghzhou Deal consists the patents of the vehicle, excluding the ones for the levitation system.
Thats why I am so surprised, that just after the deal was cancelled, a vehicle appears that looks like right out of the kassel Transrapid factrory in Kassel

Can we please have some more pics and information about that chinese TR-Clone? Maybe that would bring some light in the discussion and end all that speculation, maybe its all just a big misunderstanding....

[chewys]

Here's a picture of another Maglev train, only this time made by Changchun Passanger Train Works. Two end cars have been manufactured so far and both are under testing in Shanghai's TongJing University.

I can't seem to find any details about Maglev train being tested at Tongjing university.
I know that a Chinese university is developing a low-medium speed maglev train, but is much unlike the one shown in the photo.

UD2 , are you sure that about this and that you have not misled us and making a German angry.

[didu]

no one forces you to buy our stuff.

If you cant afford it. let it be. Or work harder, so that one day, youll be albe to afford it.

I cant afford a Maybach either.

That doesnt give me the right to steal the technology and build one by myself.


If you don't wanna sell it, leave us alone. No one is forcing you to part with your technology.

Why would I want a Maybach when I don't even need a car, let alone something as overpriced as a maybach? If I had too much money to spare, I'd probably pick a rolls royce over a Maybach. Or maybe I will build my own overpriced car.

That doesn't give you the right to accuse anyone who researches their own technology instead of buying your overpriced technology.

[pflo777]

That doesn't give you the right to accuse anyone who researches their own technology instead of buying your overpriced techn

german built maglev
http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/2003/08/09/shanghai-maglev-on.other.side.jpg


chinese "research":nuts:

http://bbs.hasea.com/attachments/forumid_29/20070526_9985617a8c326d4bf9011KcnS3rMfvD0.jpg

Yes, I can accuse china to steal intellectual property ;)

At least you could have tried to make it look different...

[Prestonian]

Not "maybe", it is a business deal. I think Germany is acting like a bully and robber.

No, a business deal is where a company makes a product and sells it at a price at which it covers its costs and makes a reasonable profit. You either pay that price or you don't. What you do not do if you have any sort of honour is try to negotiate a better price by threatening to illegally steal the product if you don't get your way.

It costs a lot of money to build these trains -- Chinese money to be precise.

Well, it is usually quite common for the country that has the product running in its country to pay for it. Do you expect germany to pay for maglevs in China? Should I expect China to build trains for me in Britain without me paying for them?

And no, German money built and developed these trains and they have a right to earn that back. Yes it does cost a lot of money to build these trains, it costs Chinese money because they are being built for the Chinese. Perhaps China just can't afford it.

It's not fair for Germany to sell something to China for a price that's not acceptable to the Chinese.

It costs what it costs, there is no variable price, Germany is telling you the price so take it or leave it. If you can't afford it then you can't have it thats capitalism - something that China still has much to learn about.

Example, it costs me £200'000 to make a Rolls Royce. People in Africa live on less than a dollar a day, am i expected to sell them at £10 so it is an "acceptable price" for Africa. Get real, maybe in a communist world but not a capitalist one where profit rules!

The train in SH cost 10 billion yuan to make -- most of that is Chinese money.

ITS IN SERVICE IN CHINA! SO CHINA PAYS FOR IT!!! - its really quite simple.

The train in SH is also the only commercially operating train in the world. The capacity of the train is 440 people, the trip takes 7 minutes with 15 minutes intervals from 7:00 to 21:00, each ticket costs 50 yuan, assuming every train is full and ignoring the inflation, the time it takes for the Chinese to get even with their investment would be:

10 * 1000 * 1000 * 1000 / (365.0 * (14 * 60 /(7+15)) * 50 * 440) = 32.77 years .

In reality, if the trains were half full 30% of the time, it would easily take more than 50 years to break even, and that doesn't even take into account the normal operating cost.

It isn't the fault of the technology or Germany that China built an unprofitable investment, its China's poor commercial judgement. China is trying to run before it can work. It isn't really rich enough for these technologies to sustain themselves without massive government subsidy. Now it seems that having bought the wrong thing the Chinese feel it is acceptable to steal in order to get some of their money back!

Example: I buy a computer from Lenovo, it works perfectly and does everything it said it would except that I now can't afford to keep it because I don't use it as much as i thought. Is it my fault for buying it or the fault of Lenovo? - of course it is my fault Lenovo has done nothing wrong. I still need the money so do I have the right to go and steal another one from the Lenovo shop to get my money back - NO!

However wonderful your German technology is, this investment is still heavily in favor to you Germans. 10 billion yuan over 32 years can get a lot of research done in China. The Chinese spent the money on your German trains, and your Germans are getting huge free publicity out of it.

Well first of all i'm not German i'm British.

No the investment isn't heavily in favour of the Germans. What you clearly don't seem to understand about capitalism is that there are 2 side to a deal and both only enter into the deal if both countries benefit. Germany actually settled for a lower price than it wanted because it needs to start paying back the money that it invested in developing the system. It is a private company with shareholders to listen to, it needed to pay them back. The Chinese deal won't have covered a fraction of the development costs and most of the money was spent on stuff used to build the maglev IN CHINA!

Gee, if you Germans think you are getting a bad deal, then you should back out the deal gracefully, instead of waging a smear campaign against the Chinese technology. That's a rude, offensive and arrogant attitude that will lose Germans lots of business and respect in China.

Well the technology being smeared is the Transrapid with Chinese media suddenly raising health issues because its government doesn't want to look like it can't afford it.

Germans are only getting a bad deal because the Chinese can't honour an agreement.

[pflo777]

I found three more pics on the Tongji University Test -Track.

As it is a public university this test track is not kept secret and you are allowed to get so near that you can make pictures like that:
The guidway is exactly the same hybrid girder that the germans sold the patents for. The support pillars look much better than on the first maglev line in shanghai though....

Maybe someone else finds more pictures, especiialy more recent ones.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1807/tongji1xe7.jpg

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/4332/tongji2at6.jpg

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/1521/tongji3ga5.jpg

Could somebody tell me if that test track is like a big circle, or is it just thought that the vehicles go forward and then backwards again.?

as a comparison:

http://www.mmc-home.de/artikel/flughafen/bild_flugh5.jpg
but as i mentioned, the GUIDWAY came to China on a legal technology transfer, so no problems here.

[snow is red]

It looks like a big circle to me . Well i am just guessing

[snow is red]

Btw mates, if you read the articles i gave you, u can see that the german government already clarified this. And China does invest a lot of money in its maglev tech.

[ningxiard]

Well the technology being smeared is the Transrapid with Chinese media suddenly raising health issues because its government doesn't want to look like it can't afford it.

Germans are only getting a bad deal because the Chinese can't honour an agreement.

The technology is being smeared? who smeared it? Chinese media, Chinese government? Did you read the original Chinese new articles about this suspension? I bet you didn't. You probably don't even know a single character of Chinese. I have never seen a single word on Chiese media disparaging the mag-lev technolgy for health and safety concern. As I said in my previous post, it's the local residents complaining very loudly against the project, and again, Chinese media only lists that as one of the multiple causes for this suspesnion.

"Chinese government doesn't want to look like it can't afford it"? Are you kidding me? Who told you that, or you were just indulging your fantasy? From the first day this new line was proposed, or even before the construction of the present one started, the huge cost of building mag-lev lines and its affordability has been a hot topic in China. This time, the Chinese media says explicitly that Chinese government thinks this new line might be too expensive, and again that is just one of the causes for the suspension as far as we get to know from the Chinese media.

Was the official contract signed for building this Shanghai-Hangzhou mag-lev line between Germany and China? I have never heard of it. If it hasn't been signed, how could you say that China is not honoring the agreement? Maybe you were on the spot when they signed a secret contract, so you could make such judgement with so much confidence? :nuts:

[didu]

No, a business deal is where a company makes a product and sells it at a price at which it covers its costs and makes a reasonable profit. You either pay that price or you don't. What you do not do if you have any sort of honour is try to negotiate a better price by threatening to illegally steal the product if you don't get your way.

I don't know how business works in your country, but in the rest of the world, a business consists of at least 1 buyer and 1 seller, and the terms have to be mutually agreeable. The Germans can wish to sell whatever they want at whatever price they set, but the Chinese has to agree to it. It's very dishonorable for the Germans to accuse the Chinese of stealing their technology when the Chinese refuse to pay the extortion demanded by the Germans. It's also very arrogant to think that they are the only ones that can come up with advanced technology, and accuse other people of stealing their technology without even knowing what other people's technology looks like.



Well, it is usually quite common for the country that has the product running in its country to pay for it. Do you expect germany to pay for maglevs in China? Should I expect China to build trains for me in Britain without me paying for them?

Sure, but since the Chinese are paying, they are the boss, and they get whatever the hell they want. If the Germans have a problem with it, they should feel free to take their products else where ... oops, I forgot, no one else could afford it.


And no, German money built and developed these trains and they have a right to earn that back. Yes it does cost a lot of money to build these trains, it costs Chinese money because they are being built for the Chinese. Perhaps China just can't afford it.

I'm not sure who cannot afford the maglev, last time I checked, the only commercially operating maglev is in China. Without the Chinese purchase, the German money would've been a waste, I'd have thought that the Germans would appreciate the bone the Chinese threw at them. I guess the saying that "no good deeds go unpunished" is really true here.



It costs what it costs, there is no variable price, Germany is telling you the price so take it or leave it. If you can't afford it then you can't have it thats capitalism - something that China still has much to learn about.

I think China has told the Germans to go away and take their technology with them. The Germans are the ones that keep coming back rolling on the ground screaming for the Chinese to buy their technology.


Example, it costs me £200'000 to make a Rolls Royce. People in Africa live on less than a dollar a day, am i expected to sell them at £10 so it is an "acceptable price" for Africa. Get real, maybe in a communist world but not a capitalist one where profit rules!

Yeah, and how many Rolls Royce do you sell in Africa to the poor people? How many do you sell in the world? Oh, how many maglevs have the Germans sold in the world? Maglevs is a buyer's market, China doesn't need maglev, so it can afford to dictate the terms. Maybe you think the German technology is something that other's cannot do without, but don't expect the Chinese to agree with you.



ITS IN SERVICE IN CHINA! SO CHINA PAYS FOR IT!!! - its really quite simple.


China paid for it, therefore China owns it, and China can do whatever it wants with it. It's really quite simple.


It isn't the fault of the technology or Germany that China built an unprofitable investment, its China's poor commercial judgement. China is trying to run before it can work. It isn't really rich enough for these technologies to sustain themselves without massive government subsidy. Now it seems that having bought the wrong thing the Chinese feel it is acceptable to steal in order to get some of their money back!

Actually it is the fault of the German technology -- it's simply too expensive, that's why the Germans haven't been able to sell it to anyone else. China might have made a poor commercial judgment, but hey, they paid for it, and now they are entitled to do whatever they want. Remember, the Germans have no idea how the Chinese technology works, all they or you can do is speculate and bad mouth China. I wonder why they are not gonna get another order from China soon.


Example: I buy a computer from Lenovo, it works perfectly and does everything it said it would except that I now can't afford to keep it because I don't use it as much as i thought. Is it my fault for buying it or the fault of Lenovo? - of course it is my fault Lenovo has done nothing wrong. I still need the money so do I have the right to go and steal another one from the Lenovo shop to get my money back - NO!

Well, I'm sure that Lenovo wouldn't mind if you break their computer -- the one you bought with your own money, into pieces and study every piece and sell each piece to recoup your loss. As far as I know, Chinese engineers haven't gone to Germany and come back with another German train, all your accusations are simply stating that they are looking at they trains that they paid for. Therefore, you "analogy" makes no sense.


Well first of all i'm not German i'm British.

Wow, that makes your argument so much more convincing ... not.


No the investment isn't heavily in favour of the Germans. What you clearly don't seem to understand about capitalism is that there are 2 side to a deal and both only enter into the deal if both countries benefit. Germany actually settled for a lower price than it wanted because it needs to start paying back the money that it invested in developing the system. It is a private company with shareholders to listen to, it needed to pay them back. The Chinese deal won't have covered a fraction of the development costs and most of the money was spent on stuff used to build the maglev IN CHINA!

I don't know the German story, but as far as I'm concerned, maglev is not making money for the Chinese, and for this reason alone I think the Chinese are doing the Germans a favor by giving them a large amount of money and unlimited publicity for their products. What you clearly seem to ignore is the Chinese perspective -- the Chinese spent a huge amount of money, and like any other buyer in the world, they want to get their money's worth.

As far as the cost of developing the magleve trains is concerned, since you blamed the Chinese for making the wrong commercial decision of buying maglev, I'm gonna take a leaf out of your book and blame the Germans for making the wrong commercial decision to develop their trains in the first place.


Well the technology being smeared is the Transrapid with Chinese media suddenly raising health issues because its government doesn't want to look like it can't afford it.

I think it's just your perception that the Chinese cannot afford it, and unless you work for the Chinese government department that makes the decisions about the maglevs, I'm not going to attach any importance to your opinion. People refuse to spend money for many different reasons, one such reason is that they cannot afford it, another reason is that they think they are not getting their money's worth. I've got enough money to buy a RR, but I won't because I think there's no way that car is worth the money they charge.


Germans are only getting a bad deal because the Chinese can't honour an agreement.

That's your opinion. I think the Chinese don't want to get a bad deal because the Germans are too greedy.

[wigo]

@Prestonian
Please know what you are talking about before you open your mouth. Who said there is an agreement already? There has not been an official agreement regarding to the Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev, yet. Clear?

I hate to say this, but you really behave like an idiot.

[snow is red]

Wigo
You dont have to call other people idiots, just explain to him, act civilised please.

[pflo777]

well, wigo states very clear how he sees the world in his signature....
So it it looks like our big mama and big brother in this thread are already speeding up--uh?

its really ridiculous.

its not enough not to buy our stuff (although we buy yours)
its not enough to deny a cooperation where china has 90% and we have 10%
its not enough to copy our stuff...

no, all the things mentioned before plus insulting us and leaving us like a pice of sh..., thats what china wants to do...

Well, you can do it, yes, like you do right now, hoping that our politicans and industrial leaders keep on believing in the possibilities and chances china offers. (But doesnt do in reality---because in the background of every chance, theres a much bigger trap)

But just take a look at the map: do you really think china is strong enough to have the whole world as its enemy?
The Soviet Union was much bigger, much further developed, much richer...and didnt make with unilateralism....

I wish you good luck, you`ll need it...

[UD2]

everyone on this forum just leave. please.

it's pointless to argue.

it's not going to change anything. Life isn't fair, and it never will be. The strongest will always win, get used to it.

If you want your views expressed, go write a book.