China's national rail operator will launch 48 new lines this year, it has revealed. Reported by the state-run People's Daily newspaper, China Railway Corp said its plans mark an increase from the 44 new lines previously planned for 2014, and that the majority of new tracks would be located in central and western regions of the country."Based on the demands from social and economic development and rail transport, we have decided that 48 new projects... will be launched this year," the company's general manager, Sheng Guangzu, was reported saying. "More than 7,000km of new lines will be put into operation this year and an additional CNY20 billion (US$3.2bn) will be added to the previous budget for this year's railway fixed asset investment," he added.The previous plan included 6,600km of new tracks costing CNY700bn, so the total planned investment for 2014 now stands at approximately US$117bn. Sheng also said that 86% of new rail lines in China will be developed in the country's central and western regions. According to China's ongoing five-year plan, 230,000km of new railway lines will be developed in these parts of China from 2011 to 2015, costing a total of CNY1.85 trillion.

Source from <Travel Daily Asia>