Beijing-Wuhan High-Speed Railway To Open End 2011

The Ministry of Railways recently announced that the Beijing-ShijiaZhuang-Wuhan high-speed railway will open at the end of 2011, cutting travel time between the capital city and Wuhan to four hours.

The new high-speed line will connect with the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway, which will extend to Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

In addition, the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway is scheduled to open in June. The Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Railway and the Tianjin-Qinghuangdao High-Speed Railway will start operations later this year.

The total length of China's railway network is expected to exceed 120,000 kilometers by 2015, with 16,000 kilometers of long-distance high-speed railways and with more than 50,000 kilometers of track in the western area of the country.