Govt fastracks rail construction plans

To enhance the railway network in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, the city government is accelerating the third phase of its railway infrastructure construction plan.

Wan Xiaopeng, chief designer of the Chengdu Planning and Management Bureau, said the government has made improving the railway network a priority for the city's overall planning, and it is accelerating the third phase of its railway network plan, which will brings the city's total length of railways to about 2,370 kilometers.

According to the latest plan for Chengdu railway construction for the period of 2016 to 2020, which was announced on July 11, five new railway lines with a length of 124.2 kilometers will be constructed before 2020, with the total investment over 83.1 billion yuan ($12.4 billion).

Moreover, the length of new railway in Chengdu's railways are expected to reach a length of 2,392 km after the fourth phase of Chengdu railway construction by 2030.

Wan said the planned railway network in Chengdu is the largest among all cities in China, and compared with its previous network, the new rail transportation plan will realize three major transformations: the transformation from district design to entire city design; and the transformation from a low and medium-density network to a high-density network.

There is a total 2,370 km of 39 lines planned. In the city center, the existing 413 km of 18 railway lines will be increased to 26 lines, with the total length of 659 km.

The railway network in part of the Tianfu New District will be both square and radial to enhance its city-center positioning.

"Residents in Chengdu will be able to find the nearest rail transit station within 10 to 15 minutes in the future," said Wan. "And the railway density of Chengdu will be more than 1 km per sq km, which means it will be the same level of the railway networks in Paris, London and other international big cities."

Jinniu district, another major center area in Chengdu, is trying to build itself into a demonstration zone for the city's railway network.

The Southwest Jiaotong University in Jinniu district held an event with the theme of "railway transportation leads the future" on May 21, at which experts discussed the potential of the city center to further develop its railway network to boost economic development.

He Chuan, director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development in Southwest Jiaotong University, said the Chengdu city government signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the university and China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

At present, Southwest Jiaotong University is focusing on research into high-speed railways, high-speed maglev lines and heavy haulage railways.

The agreement will push the government, enterprises and university to accelerate Chengdu becoming a railway innovative center, He said.

The 2025 Plan for Manufacturing in Chengdu issued this year set the target of rail transport industry income exceeding 200 billion yuan by 2025, and the government wants the city to become one of the most important rail transport industry manufacturing bases in China.

Xinjin county, for instance, is one of the major industrial parks for modern tram manufacturing. There are 32 rail transport related enterprises in the region at present, and the total output value of the rail industry was 6.2 billion yuan last year, occupying 20.6 percent of the country's total amount.

The development of the rail transportation industry in Chengdu has three key features: an early start, rapid development and advanced promotion.

Such features not only reflect the attitude of the government to develop a green and low carbon economy, but also provide strong support to the accelerating construction of a multifunctional transport network for Chengdu.

Wan said the development of rail transportation is playing an extremely important role in the development of the city, and the ideal design of a city is Transit Oriented Development, which means the design of a city always comes after the design of the rail transportation.

The TOD design style can maximize the use of public transportation when designing a resident community or commercial area, and it has been successfully applied in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

"The third phase construction of Chengdu metro Line 1 is yet another typical case of TOD," Wan said, "the new Line 1 will go across the core area of Tianfu New District, and is of great significance to the city's transportation network as well as to the development of the district."

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn