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Fuping Railway (Pingtan section) to begin construction

By Guo Yiming ( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2013-08-12

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The Pingtan section of the Fuping Railway - which links the capital city of Fuzhou and the island county of Pingtan in Fujian province - is expected to begin construction this October. Land acquisition and demolition for the project is now under way while relocation matters will kick off soon.

The Fuping Railway - approved by China Railway Corporation and the Fujian provincial government - started construction in May lead by the provincial expressway construction command center.

The five-and-a-half year project involves building a sea bridge across Haitan Strait. The bridge has been hailed as the first cross-sea railroad bridge in China.

The bridge spans 11.15 kilometers and the railroad features a dual-layer design. The upper level includes a two-way six-lane highway and the lower a double-track railway.

An official with the Pingtan railway office said that "the project will ease the traffic woes in Pingtan's communication with the inland and improve the transportation network in the area".

The project will reduce travel time between Pingtan and Fuzhou to only 30 minutes by train and one hour by car.

The Pingtan section of the new railway – which passes through seven towns and 20 villages – involves the acquisition and demolition of 100,000 square kilometers of land, including graves and houses.

The new railway line, with a total length of 88.43 kilometers, is expected to cross the Minjiang River, Xiaolian Island and Dalian Island and finally arrive at the Pingtan railway station by Erbu Mountain in the county's Zhonglou town.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai