Construction has started on a US$12.2 billion passenger railway line running through northeast China as part of a bid to rejuvenate the country's old industrial base, state media reported Tuesday. Xinhua News Agency said the 904-kilometer (562-mile) railway would run through the provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, linking the provincial capitals to the coastal city of Dalian in Liaoning. It said the estimated cost of the project was 92.3 billion yuan (US$12.2 billion; ¤8.93 billion). The double-track electric-power railway will have a target running speed of 200 kilometers per hour (125 miles per hour), with the potential of handling trains with speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour (218 miles per hour). Building the passenger line will free up other lines for cargo transportation, Xinhua said. Construction is expected to take five and a half years, it said.
