23 August 2006
China faces railway funding gap
(AFP) The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is facing a "funding gap" as it plans to dramatically expand its railway network, forcing it to consider allowing more foreign investment and a greater role for the market. To realise its plan of building another 100,000 kilometres (62,500 miles) of railway track by 2020 will mean raising 250 billion Yuan (UK₤16.2bn; US$31bn; EUR€24.1bn) a year, twice the current annual spending on railways, the China Daily reported. The railway ministry is hoping for the speedy passage of new legislation that will make it easier and more attractive for foreign companies to invest in the railroad network, according to the paper. In a departure of the policies of the past more than 50 years, the government plans to allow investors some influence on the pricing of tickets, the paper said. It is unclear whether the change in policy will affect the proposed extension of the Golmud-Lhasa railway to Shigatse (Chin: Xigaze), although a recent delegation to Nepal, led by Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) claim the plan will go ahead. Mr Puncog said: "Tibet is a remote place that is looking forward to being connected to South Asia. The railway extension will promote business". In the past PRC government officials have claimed that railway building in the TAR has a political dimension rather than being simply economic.