The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Wednesday a loan of 300 million
U.S. dollars to help fund construction of a 944-km railway line across north
China.
The railway will be the first east-west line connecting Shanxi
and Shaanxi provinces, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and will run from
Taiyuan in central Shanxi to Zhongwei and Yinchuan in Ningxia, a relatively poor
area, said the China office of ADB.
The Ministry of Railways said
construction began in February.
A statement from the ADB said the
3.75-billion-dollar project will feature 520 km of electrified double track from
Taiyuan to Dingbian, 232 km of electrified single track from Dingbian to
Zhongwei, and 192 km of electrified single track from Dingbian to Yinchuan.
It will include 41 new railway stations, modern safety technology, and
electronic and computerized management systems.
Manmohan Parkash, an ADB
senior transport specialist, estimated that 6.5 million people living in 22
districts would benefit from the railway.
Half of these areas were
considered poor, mainly due to geographical isolation, limited and expensive
transport access, and poor access to market information, as well as health,
education and other social services.
The ADB has focused on the
development of railways in poor, less-developed inland provinces in China to
promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty.
Since China
joined in 1986, the ADB has provided the country 13 loans totaling 2.6 billion
dollars to fund the construction of 5,518 km of new railway
lines.
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