Xinjiang gets on the fast track

High-speed rail to slash journey times, spur economy

Journey times to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are set to be slashed after the first high-speed railway line opens later this year, following the start of test runs Tuesday.

The region is expected to see a boost in economy and tourism as part of a wider development strategy for Northwest China.

It will only take nine hours to travel from Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, down from the current 16 hours.

It will also lop 10 hours off the journey time from Beijing to Urumqi.

The train is expected to reach top speeds of 250 kilometers per hour and will serve 31 stations.

Security along the new line is expected to be tight in the wake of recent terror attacks.

All trains will be guarded by armed personnel, and security onboard will be assured, said Li Suping, deputy chief of the Urumqi railway public security bureau, Reuters reported.

Construction of the 1,776-kilometer line started in 2009, and cost 143.5 billion yuan ($22.97 billion). The line deviates from the original Xinjiang-Lanzhou line as it also goes through Qinghai province.

The original line will be mainly used for freight, Liu Xinle, an official with the Urumqi Railway Bureau, told the People's Daily.

Fu Lianzhu, chief engineer of the high-speed railway, said that all trains on the route would speed up due to improved track standards.

"The test speed reached 277 kilometers per hour. Further testing will last three months to check all aspects including telecommunication," Fu was quoted as saying by Urumqi-based news portal iyaxin.com.

The line has undergone extensive wind proofing, as the mainly desert region is notorious for heavy sustained winds. La Youyu, chairman of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway Xinjiang Corporation, said that windbreaks have been built along 463 kilometers of the track, 65 percent of the 710-kilometer railroad in Xinjiang, as well as long tunnels. The track bed has been raised by 5 centimeters to allow wind-blown sand to pass easily.

"This is the first time these windproof technologies are deployed in high-speed railway construction and it's of the largest scale in the world," La said.

Residents of the region are looking forward to the easier journey and to the associated economic benefits the line is expected to bring.

Tang Lijiu, an expert from the Xinjiang East-West Economic Institute, said that the railway will turn Urumqi into an economic hub in Northwest China along the Silk Road economic belt with millions of passengers on board.

The National Development and Research Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planning body, said Wednesday that it will work to implement a variety of support policies in employment, education and poverty reduction for Xinjiang.

The NDRC will also speed up the building of major transportation, water conservation and agricultural infrastructure.

The high-speed railway will not only break the bottleneck of economic development in Xinjiang by facilitating cargo transport for cotton and fruits, but also bring down the economic and time expense for tourists to Xinjiang, said Li Wenqing, an official with the tourism bureau in Xinjiang.

"By 2015, tourism will become a pillar industry, which will spur the development of other industries and take up more than 10 percent of GDP in Xinjiang," Li said.