RAILWAYS III

closed

This will be the Bank Group's third involvement in the railway subsector. The Third Railway Project will support the Government's objectives of increasing railway capacity and improving its operations and efficiency. It will also further develop the Ministry of Railways' technical and managerial capabilities and contribute to the overall economic growth of the country. The project will consist of five components. They involve: (a) upgrading and electrification of the 456 km single track line between Chongqing in Sichuan province and Guiyang in Guizhou province; (b) upgrading and electrification of the 704 km single track line between Yingtan in Jiangxi province and Xiamen in Fujian province; (c) increasing the capacity and improving the quality of the Xi'an Railway Signaling Factory and its production; (d) introducing mechanized track maintenance on a pilot project basis; and (e) supporting continuation of the Traffic Costing Study, initiated under the First Railway Project. The electrification works involve proven technology that is already in wide use in China and elsewhere in the world; technological risks are therefore small.