The second phase of the Karamay-Tacheng Railway project, stretching from Tiechanggou town to the Baketu region on the border of China and Kazakhstan, is expected to begin construction this year.

The proposal was made by the Xinjiang delegation at the Fourth Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress, Karamay Daily reported.

The gross investment of the Karamay-Tacheng Railway is 5.69 billion yuan ($873.42 million). The 306-km-long railway traverses the Tacheng area, Karamay and the ninth division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and passes by six industrial parks and districts. The area serviced is more than 100,000 square kilometers.

Tacheng prefecture is the farthest city away from the railway network in Xinjiang. The first phase of the Karamay-Tacheng Railway started in 2014, linking Baikouquan town in Karamay and Tiechanggou town in Tacheng.

Edited by Peter Nordlinger