China to Add 3,300 km Rail Lines in 2022

China plans to launch new rail lines totaling 3,300 kilometers in 2022 along with a slew of measures to improve its comprehensive transport network, the Ministry of Transport said on February 28.

More than 8,000 kilometers of expressways will be expanded or renovated, said Li Xiaopeng, minister of transport, adding that over 700 kilometers of high-grade waterways will be added or improved.

The country will also add eight certified civil-transport airports and continue to develop the green channel for agricultural products to ensure efficient transport of farm and sideline products, noted Li.

Fruitful achievements had been made in the previous year to enhance China's transportation infrastructure, said the minister. By the end of 2021, the total operating length of China's high-speed railway network had exceeded 40,000 kilometers. Expressways and high-grade waterways increased to more than 168,000 kilometers and over 16,000 kilometers, respectively.

China unveiled a plan in January outlining primary targets for transportation network development in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) to achieve integrated development in 2025.

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High-speed rail network expands past 40,000 km

The Anqing-Jiujiang section of the planned Beijing-Hong Kong high-speed railway started operation at the end of last year, bringing the total length of high-speed railway network in China to more than 40,000 kilometers-equivalent to the length of the equator.

Linking Anqing in Anhui province with Jiujiang in Jiangxi province, the new section started trial runs on Dec 1, last year.

The 176-km line, with seven stations along its route, will reduce travel time between Anhui's capital Hefei and Jiangxi's capital Nanchang to two hours and 22 minutes, according to China Railway Shanghai Group.

The Anqing-Jiujiang high-speed railway has a design speed of 350 km per hour and is a section of China's planned vertical artery of the Beijing-Hong Kong high-speed railway.

There were five pairs of trains plying the railway on its first day of operation, and the number will increase to 24 pairs per day starting Jan 10.

The new line passes populated areas with abundant tourism resources, including Lushan Mountain in Jiujiang, and will greatly facilitate the travel of people along the route, said the company.

With the operation of the new section, the country's total railway network stretches more than 150,000 km. China has more high-speed rail tracks than anywhere else in the world. It has built a high-speed railway network accounting for nearly 70 percent of the high-speed railway network in the world.

About 6.5 million passenger trips were handled per day by the high-speed railway network in 2019, while the number was 350,000 in 2008. Last year, 3.58 billion metric tons of cargo were transported via railway, 920 million tons more than in 2016.

The country's rapidly expanding transport network offers faster, cheaper, as well as more convenient and pleasant journeys, and plays a crucial role in social and economic development.

Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng said earlier that the railway network has reached 99 percent of the cities with a population of more than 200,000 while about 95 percent of cities with populations of more than 1 million have access to the high-speed railway network.

The network will continue to expand, according to a guideline released by several departments in 2016, which announced the building of a high-speed network of eight major north-south and eight east-west high-speed railway lines.

According to guidelines released by the China State Railway Group earlier this year, a total of 70,000 km of high-speed rail lines will be built by 2035, to reach every area that has a population of more than 500,000.

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High-speed railway welcomes private investment

China's first privately controlled high-speed railway in Zhejiang province will provide a promising example for private capital to invest in the nation's railway sector, experts said.

New 266.9-km intercity line greatly shortens travel time between Zhejiang cities, further enhancing regional economy. As the first high-speed railway largely funded by domestic private capital, the 266.9-kilometer Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou intercity high-speed railway greatly shortens travel time between cities in Zhejiang.

Construction of the railway began in December 2017. After four years of construction, the high-speed railway line officially opened on Jan 8.

The 44.9-billion-yuan ($7.1 billion) project is constructed via a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, with the private sector holding 51 percent.

A private consortium led by Fosun Group holds the 51 percent stake in the project, with the remaining funding coming from China Railway Development Fund (15 percent), Zhejiang Provincial Transportation Investment Group on behalf of the provincial government (13.6 percent), and funds of local governments of Shaoxing (10.2 percent) and Taizhou (10.2 percent), according to public information.

"This is the very first high-speed railway mainly funded by private capital. It sets a successful and replicable example for private capital entering into railway investment and construction, and it also provides important experience for diversifying railway investment," said Yang Xiuzhi, a senior engineer with China Railway Shanghai Group Co Ltd.

As PPP has entered into a new stage of standardized, orderly and rational development, the project presents a role model for future reform and replication, experts said.

A guideline on public service during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) was issued by the National Development and Reform Commission early in January, in which PPP projects were encouraged as one of the methods to entice more social entities to invest in public services.

Targeting improved policies, fewer restrictions and promotion of fairness, the nation is set to provide higher-quality services to improve people's livelihoods.

Data from the national PPP information platform showed a total of 403 projects were added into the database throughout 2021, among which 149 were related to urban infrastructure.

"Global experience has proved that railway lines funded with diversified capital sources have great outlooks," said Sun Zhang, a professor specializing in railway and urban rail transit research at Tongji University in Shanghai.

"Building railway lines funded by multiple parties will become much more efficient and possible than those invested by one company alone," Sun added.

"Construction and operation of the Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou railway line are included into the whole network of the national railway. As the capital provider, private enterprises are treated equally with State-owned high-speed railway investors," said Fang Jianhong, CEO of Fosun Infrastructure Group, who is also the president of Hang-Shao-Tai Railway Co Ltd.

"The only difference is the reform and innovation in investment and financing," Fang said.

Industrial experts suggest PPP sets a good example for coordinating financial resources to achieve high-quality development of infrastructure and public services, and this will be a win-win outcome for both State-owned assets and private capital.

"The market-oriented stake structure allows the government, the railway operator and social capital to fully play their respective roles and strength, and share responsibilities so as to truly realize win-win cooperation," said Li Jun, deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

Due to its priority placed on market demand, private capital noticed the need for a rail line in some parts of Zhejiang province－an area endowed with relatively fewer railway resources, Sun said.

Regardless of Zhejiang's relatively better-developed railway network compared with other Chinese regions, there remain some areas with insufficient transportation facilities in the Yangtze River Delta.

The new high-speed rail line is expected to become a great boost to the existing high-speed rail network in the delta region as well as nearby city clusters, thus further enhancing Zhejiang's economy, Sun added.

The Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou railway line links nine stations in the province at speeds of 350 kilometers per hour.

Extending 266.9 km between the provincial capital of Hangzhou and Taizhou's Wenling, the high-speed railway cuts nearly half of the one-way travel time to about 60 minutes.

The successful launch of the high-speed railway ended the history of Shaoxing's Shengzhou and Xinchang, as well as Taizhou's Tiantai of having no railway connections, said Fosun's Fang.

"The line strengthens communications and transport across the Yangtze River Delta region," Fang said.

Considering the project's prime location, the profitability of surrounding high-speed railways, the densely populated region and its highly developed business, Fang believes the line will see steady growth in passenger flows as well as ticket revenue.

Transit Oriented Development－an urban development model that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport－is also expected to enjoy huge growth opportunities, particularly as people and enterprises will be attracted to locations near stations of high-speed railway lines, Sun said.

The greatest challenge posed to the project has been the COVID-19 pandemic, which not only impacted the project schedule, but also brought huge pressure from fighting against the virus, Fang added.

With close coordination between Fosun Group and the project company, as well as dedicated support of local governments, the railway project was launched in due time with high quality, Fang said.

The local railway department arranges 35 pairs of electric multiple unit trains during the initial operational period. And minimum travel time between Hangzhou and Taizhou at maximum speeds is 63 minutes.

China's total railway network stood at 150,000 km as of the end of December 2021, including 40,000 km of high-speed railways, according to Economic Daily. Experts said the network is going to expand further during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, a role model for securities assets' strength in supporting the real economy's high-quality development, has set a good example for other lines.

The railway has been profitable since 2014. The company's net profit surged at an annual average of 39.4 percent between 2014 and 2019. The railway remained profitable in 2020 despite the impact of COVID-19 and the listed company reported its net profit surged 417.28 percent year-on-year to 2.74 billion yuan during the first half of 2021, according to Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway Co Ltd.