Another bullet train project ordered to stop
By Yang Jian and Dong Zhen |
May 20, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE construction of a high-speed railway in north China has been halted over ecological concerns - the second bullet train project to be frozen in the past three weeks.
There had been a failure to evaluate the impact on the environment when a route linking Tianjin Municipality and Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province was chosen, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said yesterday.
The builder has been ordered to submit an environmental impact evaluation before June 15 in order to carry on with construction, the ministry said.
The 261 kilometer railway, which is costing 33.8 billion yuan (US$5.2 billion), was due to finish by the end of 2012 and was designed to carry 80 million passengers a year at speeds of up to 350kph.
On April 25, the ministry suspended the operation of the Qingdao-Jinan railway, the country's first high-speed passenger railway built in 2008, because the 250kph project had failed to build support facilities for environmental protection.
Three days after the route was suspended, the Ministry of Environmental Protection also halted construction of Metro Line 2 in Wuxi, a city in eastern Jiangsu Province on April 28 because the route had been changed without making an environmental impact evaluation.
The country is putting the brakes on its bullet trains following complaints that the system is dangerously fast and too expensive.
It has been decided that the fastest bullet train routes will be cut from 350kph in travel speed to 300kph, Railway Minister Sheng Guangzu said recently.
Safety the 'very top concern'
"This will offer more safety," Sheng said. "At the same time, this will allow more variation in ticket prices based on market principles."
The top speed will apply to four north-south and four east-west trunk lines. Regional lines will run at 200-250kph, officials said.
Officials with the Ministry of Communications and Transport told a news conference in Shanghai on Wednesday that the future construction and operation of high-speed railway lines would place safety as the "very top concern."
Officials also said lower speeds would reduce operational and maintenance costs. They said there should not be a blind pursuit of higher travel speeds.
Zhang Hanya, director of the Investment Association of China, has questioned the motives behind building so many fast trains in China.
He said the public was worried about their safety.
Other critics said the multibillion-dollar price tag for high-speed trains and track was too high for a country where millions of families were still living in poverty.
Rail officials say the high-speed network is due to grow to 13,000 kilometers of track by the end of this year and 16,000 kilometers by 2020.
A key project is the 215 billion yuan, 1,318 kilometer Shanghai-Beijing line due to open by the end of next month.
Final trials of the Shanghai-Beijing link were launched early this month. Ticket prices are still under discussion, according to railway officials.
There had been a failure to evaluate the impact on the environment when a route linking Tianjin Municipality and Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province was chosen, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said yesterday.
The builder has been ordered to submit an environmental impact evaluation before June 15 in order to carry on with construction, the ministry said.
The 261 kilometer railway, which is costing 33.8 billion yuan (US$5.2 billion), was due to finish by the end of 2012 and was designed to carry 80 million passengers a year at speeds of up to 350kph.
On April 25, the ministry suspended the operation of the Qingdao-Jinan railway, the country's first high-speed passenger railway built in 2008, because the 250kph project had failed to build support facilities for environmental protection.
Three days after the route was suspended, the Ministry of Environmental Protection also halted construction of Metro Line 2 in Wuxi, a city in eastern Jiangsu Province on April 28 because the route had been changed without making an environmental impact evaluation.
The country is putting the brakes on its bullet trains following complaints that the system is dangerously fast and too expensive.
It has been decided that the fastest bullet train routes will be cut from 350kph in travel speed to 300kph, Railway Minister Sheng Guangzu said recently.
Safety the 'very top concern'
"This will offer more safety," Sheng said. "At the same time, this will allow more variation in ticket prices based on market principles."
The top speed will apply to four north-south and four east-west trunk lines. Regional lines will run at 200-250kph, officials said.
Officials with the Ministry of Communications and Transport told a news conference in Shanghai on Wednesday that the future construction and operation of high-speed railway lines would place safety as the "very top concern."
Officials also said lower speeds would reduce operational and maintenance costs. They said there should not be a blind pursuit of higher travel speeds.
Zhang Hanya, director of the Investment Association of China, has questioned the motives behind building so many fast trains in China.
He said the public was worried about their safety.
Other critics said the multibillion-dollar price tag for high-speed trains and track was too high for a country where millions of families were still living in poverty.
Rail officials say the high-speed network is due to grow to 13,000 kilometers of track by the end of this year and 16,000 kilometers by 2020.
A key project is the 215 billion yuan, 1,318 kilometer Shanghai-Beijing line due to open by the end of next month.
Final trials of the Shanghai-Beijing link were launched early this month. Ticket prices are still under discussion, according to railway officials.
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