Guangdong to spend US$317.8 billion on road-rail traffic projects

GUANGDONG province has publicised the traffic system plan covering 2011-2015 to have integrate sea, land and air transport that differs from earlier schemes that separated the three elements individually, Xinhua reports.

During the five-year period, the province will focus on 189 projects, together totalling and expenditure of CNY1.98 trillion (US$317.8 billion) with investment coming to CNY1.07 trillion. By 2016, Guangdong aims to build up 15 inter-province railways and 19 expressways, and develop a network with its neighbouring provinces where there are at least three expressways connecting it to these provinces.

By 2015, Guangdong's intercity railways and metro will connect nine Pearl River Delta cities as far as Qingyuan, while its high-speed rail network will cover east, west and north of the province. The total provincial rail and metro system will cover 5,000 kilometres, 2,305 kilometres more than in 2006-2010, with 700 kilometres of track running down the Pearl River.

The province will continue the ongoing projects of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong passenger railway, Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway, Xiamen-Shenzhen railway Guangdong section, Maoming-Zhanjiang railway, Ganzhou-Shaoguan railway Guangdong section, Guizhou-Guangzhou railway Guangdong section and Nanning-Guangzhou railway Guangdong section, covering 1,408 kilometres. Meanwhile, the province will also start new projects including Shenzhen-Maoming railway, upgrade of Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou railway, Guangzhou-Shanwei railway, Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou railway Shantou section secondary line and Zhanjiang's Donghaidao railway, covering a total distance of 2,166 kilometres.

On the road sector, the province plans to expand the expressway network to 6,500 kilometres to cover all counties, and to build 25,000 kilometres of rural roads.

In the airport sector, the province will continue to improve the airport network with Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Shenzhen Baoan International Airport as hubs and others as feeder ports, and accelerate the building of traffic infrastructure connecting airports. The province will also study on the relocation of the Zhanjiang airport.

During this period, the province will also finish upgrading its navigational channel network with more than 1,300 kilometre's navigational channel of third class and above. The network will also be widened to cover border cities of Qingyuan and Shaoguan. Port capacity will top 45 million TEU in terms of containers and 1.2 billion tonnes in terms of tonnage if all goes according to plan.