(Yicai Global) May 15 -- Guangdong’s investment in railroad building will peak in the five years through 2025, with a focus on high-speed links, rail hubs, and inter-city and freight rail, according to the deputy director of the province’s transport department.

Rail lines in use and those under construction in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are set to total 4,700 kilometers by 2025, Jia Shaoming noted in a recent online interview with China’s transport ministry.

Guangdong aims to speed up the construction of high-speed rail links between the provincial capital of Guangzhou and Zhanjiang, as well as between Shenzhen and Zhaoqing, so as to expand the mileage of inter-city railroads in use in the Greater Bay Area to more than 800 km by 2025. 

It will also assist with the construction of freight lines connecting Jieyang and Huizhou as well as Shantou, Guangzhou, and the Macao and Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions. Railway hub projects will also be promoted at Guangzhou Railway Station, Guangzhou East Railway Station and Shenzhen’s Xili Railway Station. 

Guangdong is pushing forward reforms and innovations to do with rail-relevant investment and financing mechanisms, Jia said, adding that private funds have also been introduced in addition to those from the provincial and municipal governments. Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be responsible for the surveys, design, investment, construction, operation and management of the Greater Bay Area’s rail projects. 

By the end of last year, the total length of railroads operating in Guangdong was 5,328 km, about 2,367 km of which was high-speed rail, Jia said.

There are also 37 provincial-level rail projects now being built whose mileage totals 2,190 km, with investment of CNY782.7 billion (USD112.5 billion). And this year, there will be 11 new projects, with mileage of 420 km and investment totaling CNY232.8 billion, Jia said.

In the 14th five-year plan, a target was set for the total length of Guangdong’s railroads to exceed 5,000 km, with investment of more than CNY1.6 trillion (USD230 billion). 

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Tom Litting