Rail lines to foster regional integration

Three new rail lines will be opened this year, in the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei province, to improve regional integration and development, an official from the Beijing railway authority said.

One of the three new lines will extend the current line between Beijing and downtown Tianjin to the Tianjin Binhai New Area to the east, said Zhu Huigang, deputy director of the Beijing Railway Bureau, adding that it will begin operation in September.

"The route is also expected to extend to Tianjin's new airport, so residents will be able take a train to catch a flight," Zhu said.

The two other new rail lines are from Tianjin to Baoding in Hebei, and between Zhangjiakou to Tangshan in the province, he said. Those lines are expected to be operational by the end of the year.

"Previously, Hebei residents had to go to the capital to take a train or transfer to other lines, but when the new rail lines open, the traffic burden on Beijing will be greatly alleviated," he said.

Together, the three rail lines will be 800 km long, accounting for 10 percent of the nation's new rail construction and highlighting the fast development of transportation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

In addition, Beijing will start work on its first intercity rail - similar to, but quicker than the urban metro - by the end of this year, the city's urban planning authority said.

The Pinggu Line, connecting Pinggu in the east and Chaoyang district in the downtown area will extend 70 kilometers, according to the city bureau in charge of major projects. Twenty kilometers will run through Hebei province, where there will be two stations, in the Beijing satellite towns of Yanjiao and Sanhe.

Unlike the urban metro, the intercity line trains will be able to run at up to 160 km/h, making a trip from Pinggu to downtown within an hour.

Details of the plan have not yet been released.

"The transport integration of Beijing and its two neighbors will be a priority on the working list," said Zhou Zhengyu, director of the Beijing Committee of Transportation in his annual report on the city's transportation system. He added that the transportation network will contain various modes including the intercity rail and metro lines.

The Transportation Committee is expected to soon release the plan on the traffic network between Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang to facilitate integrated railway constructions.