China makes plans for 35 rail projects in 2017

China will move forward with 35 railway construction projects in 2017, according to a local news report.

It reported that CNY 800 billion (almost US$117 billion) has been assigned to China Railway Corp (CRC), for the projects, equalling the amount allocated to the state-owned company in 2016.

Moreover, the country’s vice minister of transport, Yang Yudong, revealed that 3.5 trillion yuan (US$508 billion) would be spent on rail projects over the course of the country’s 13^th Five-Year Plan, which runs from 2016 to 2020.

According to the news report, 2016 will see construction get underway on projects aiming to lay down 2,100 km of new rail line, 2,500 km of double-track lines and 4,000 km of electrified railway.

By the end of the five-year plan, China expects to have increased the length of its operating high-speed rail network to around 30,000 km, with more than 80% of its major cities connected.

As things stood at the end of 2016, the country’s rail network totalled 124,000 km, with over 22,000 km of high-speed rail network in operation.