China's railway infrastructure investment is set to reach a new high next year, with an estimated investment value of more than 516 billion yuan ($82.66 billion). Both the investment and operation mileage will exceed those of this year, Chinese media reported.

The expansion of railway construction will be funded by 150 billion yuan of railroading bonds, government's financial support and bank credit capital.

Data from the Ministry of Railways show that the railway infrastructure investment reached 69.77 billion yuan in October, more than triple that of last year.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), the investment in railway infrastructure is poised to reach 2.3 trillion yuan and the length of railway lines in service will reach 120,000 kilometers.

China on Monday showcased the world's first alpine high-speed rail line, which threads through the country's three northeastern provinces.

A test train departed from Harbin West Station, located in the capital of Heilongjiang Province, on Monday morning for Dalian, a port city in Liaoning Province.

With a trial speed averaging 300 km per hour, the train completed the 921-kilometer journey in about four hours.

Engineers with the railway project said the rail track built using cutting-edge technology can accommodate temperatures between 40 degrees Celsius below zero and 40 degrees Celsius above freezing. Trains will be able to run at an average of 350 km per hour on the line after safety tests are conducted.

They have adopted the eight-compartment CRH380B train model built by China Northern Railways.

The rail line, featuring 24 stations, is expected to go into normal operation by the end of the year.

The populous northeastern provinces are known as China's key industrial base, and the high-speed rail line is expected to ease the transportation bottleneck in the region.

Harbin West, the line's originating station, has been designed with 10 platforms with a combined dispatched passenger capacity of 7,000 passengers per hour at peak times. 

The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Monday declared open its railway technology training center mainly set up to train local artisans and technicians on how to manage the Nigerian construction industry.

At the unveiling ceremony of the Idu Training Center, Qi Xiaotian, a member of the top management of the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), said the training scheme is necessary for Nigerian employees with the development and operation of the Nigerian modern railways and urban mass transit rail system in Abuja and Lagos.

He said the training scheme will provide more talents for the local railway management and operation, maintanence and workshops. The CCECC has the responsibility to introduce more technology and technique to lcoal employees for Nigeria's further development in mass transport services, he explained.

The training program, with its pilot phase commencing in Idu located in Nigeria's capital city Abuja, is expected to create a link between government and the masses in a way that the latter will be highly skilled to be absorbable by the construction industry in Nigeria, Honorary President of the Abuja Training School Jonathan Olopade also said at the brief unveiling ceremony.

"We are creating a link between the construction industry and the local technicians and artisans in a way that brings them up to the standard that can match our needs as well as address the structural unemployment concerns of the country," he said further.

Over the years, the Nigerian railway which was a very lucrative transport operator during and immediately after the country's colonial era had gone into extinction. But the new initiative by CCECC and its local collaborators will help bring back the past glory of the Nigerian railway to its place of pride, according to Olopade.

Noting that the training school's objective is to be a major contributor to the net capacity development of master technicians and artisans in the country, the institute's honorary president said the training school will be regarded as one of the major corporate social responsibilities of the CCECC to the Nigerian masses in recent times.

"We are starting off with the Abuja Training School and our intent is that in due time, we will move to Lagos and some other parts of the country," he added.

An the ceremony, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria Deng Boqing said that in the past few years, the CCECC has well established itself in the infrastructural sector in Nigeria and achieved fast growth in the development. According to him, the training school is aimed at cultivation of talents in Africa and Nigeria, which is one of the major tasks for the Chinese companies operating in Africa.

"This opening of the school marks the implementation of targets set by the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing in July," Deng noted, adding that he sincerely wished the training program success in the coming years.

CCECC Nigeria Ltd, which provides construction and engineering services in the west African nation, has over 10,000 local staffs who need to be properly trained on how to operate, manage and carry out maintenance in the Nigerian railway sector.

Laos is developing its railway network with a 4 billion U.S. dollar project to link with Vietnam on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting here, local media reported.

The State-run Vientiane Times reported that the 4 billion U.S. dollar contract was signed on Monday.

The project aims to build the first high speed railway link between Laos and Vietnam and will take five years to complete.

Laos Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Razak witnessed the signing for the electrified double track railway project.

The master concession agreement is between the Laotian government and Giant Consolidated Ltd, a Malaysian company, to develop the 220km track from Savannakhet to Lao Bao, near the Vietnam border.

Once the project is completed Savannakhet Province will have a direct rail link to Lao Bao, at the Laos Vietnam border.

The Laos-Vietnam railway line is part of a planned network linking Southeast Asia and when the entire project is completed it will provide a non-stop connection to Singapore through Thailand and Malaysia into Kunming Province in China.  

Construction work started Saturday on a major high-speed railway in China's western hinterland to promote local economic cooperation and development.

The 643-km-long railway line for passenger transport links Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province to Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.

The project will be completed in five years with an investment of more than 40 billion yuan (about 6.35 billion U.S. dollars). The travel time between the two cities will be shortened to three hours from 12 hours currently, after the new railway is put into operation.

The line will have 127 km of tunnels to pass through the Qinling Mountains.

China aims to basically complete the construction of a high-speed railway network with a total operating length of more than 40,000 km by the end of 2015. 

New railway line among measures to improve flow of passengers, goods in region

Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region will speed up construction of its transport network in coming years to boost the flow of passengers and goods, a senior regional official said on Thursday.

Construction of a new railway linking Lhasa, capital of Tibet, and Nyingchi prefecture in the region's southeast will start very soon, Padma Choling, chairman of the autonomous region, told a group discussion at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. 

Passengers take the 100 percent low floor light rail train in Changchun, capital city of northeast China’s Jilin Province, Oct. 19, 2012. The train, the first 100 percent low floor light rail train in China, officially started operation on the light rail lines of Changchun Subway on Friday. “Low floor” light rail trains refer to those trains floors of which are no higher than 40 centimeters than the rails. They are more energy-efficient and convenient, especially for the elder and children.  

Wowjoint Holdings Limited ("Wowjoint," or the "Company") (Nasdaq: BWOW, BWOWU, BWOWW), China's innovative infrastructure solutions provider of customized heavy duty lifting and carrying machinery, today announced that it has entered into a contract for leasing and servicing  the construction of high speed rail in China.
Wowjoint entered into a contract with a subsidiary of China Railway Group, Beijing-Fujian Railway Section VI Project Department of China Railway Tunnel Stock Co., Ltd. ("China Railway"), for the lease and servicing of a special launching carrier. This special launching carrier will be used in the construction of the Beijing-Fuzhou passenger high speed railway line. Wowjoint will lease to China Railway a 900 ton special launching carrier specifically designed for this project to pass through the tunnels and install approximately 146 spans of railway box beams. The contract value is approximately $2.7 million and the service is scheduled to be performed from November 2012 to September 2013.
"We continue to pursue our leasing and servicing business where we operate the machines for our customers. We are pleased with our newest contract with China Railway." stated Mr. Yabin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Wowjoint. "This is our second service contract this year and we anticipate these types of contracts to continue as we enter the subcontracting/servicing field. In this project, the launching carrier is required to pass through over 20 tunnels.  Our special launching carrier is patented and is the only launching carrier in China today that can go through the tunnels and place box beam segments. We think this is one of the reasons why Wowjoint was selected to be the provider for this project. We believe our servicing business will continue to expand as a profitable business segment of the Company."
 

Global track market remains steady despite continuing economic uncertainty 

China will increase railway fix-asset investment (FAI) in 2013, with plans to surpass the US$100.91 billion (RMB630 billion) spent on rail lines this year, Caixin reported. A spokesman for the Ministry of Railways said that investment in railway infrastructure alone will be more than US$80.09 billion next year. Increased investment in railways will continue until 2015, he said. Since June, the ministry has increased the FAI spending target four times. During the first 10 months of this year, China spent US$68.11 billion on railway FAI, 0.9% less than the same period in 2011. Investment jumped in October with total FAI hitting US$13.13 billion and railway infrastructure outlays reaching US$11.18 billion, up 240% year-on-year. About US$32.81 billion of this year's railway budget remains unspent, and further investment is expected during November and December.
 

Railway and energy experts called Wednesday for the establishment of an effective system to protect the interests of private investors as they enter State-dominated sectors. The request comes as construction begins on new railway and energy projects which are partially funded by private capital.

"In the new coal transportation railway project, for the first time China's railways ministry does not hold the controlling stake of 50 percent. Instead they hold around 20 percent, to allow more private investors to participate," Wang Mengshu, chief engineer of the China Railway Tunnel Group and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told the Global Times Wednesday.

"But for such a large project, it would take a long time, say 12 or 13 years, to recover the investment. Whether investors could profit depends on the operating efficiency of the project. Protecting the interest of private investors in State-dominated sectors is an issue that has yet to be solved," he said.

The Ministry of Railways (MOR) announced Tuesday that construction has begun on the Mengxi-Huazhong coal transportation railway (the West Inner Mongolia-Central China Railway), a 1,750-kilometer railroad connecting Central China with key coal-producing regions including Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi. Part of the project is expected to be completed in 2015.

Investment in the project is estimated at 170 billion yuan ($27.117 billion), of which the railways ministry contributed 20 percent. The remaining 80 percent came from local governments and other enterprises, including 15.7 percent from private capital, the MOR said in a statement sent to the Global Times Wednesday.

A total of 11 companies invested in the project, including China Shenhua Energy Company, China Coal Energy Company and Shaanxi Coal Industry Company.

Zhou Dongzhou, Secretary of the Board of China Coal Energy Company, told the Global Times Wednesday that the company holds a 10 percent stake in the project but said it was hard to predict returns at this stage.

Meanwhile, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announced Tuesday that construction had begun on the country's third pipeline transporting natural gas from the country's resource-rich western regions to the energy-deficient eastern regions.

Total investment in the project is 125 billion yuan, with completion slated for 2015, the CNPC said.

The project is open to private capital. China's Social Security Fund, Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Fund and Baosteel have agreed to jointly invest in the project and the CNPC holds a controlling stake.

The CNPC did not say what portion of the project is funded by private capital. According to a report by the Economic Information Daily, Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Fund holds a 16 percent stake in the project.

"The project set a precedent for introducing private capital into the country's State-dominated energy sector, but the room for private capital in such energy projects is still very limited," said Li Lingxuan, an analyst with Shandong-based industry research agency SCI.

The private investment comes in the form of funds that can only participate by paying for supporting components, whereas the supply of major construction materials such as pipes and steel will still be dominated by State-owned companies, Li said.

Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) has signed a $US 42m agreement with the Chinese government that will enable Chinese companies to implement rehabilitation projects on the ailing railway.

According to a statement released by Tazara, the agreement was concluded by Tazara managing director Mr Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika and China's chief representative for economic and commercial cooperation, Mr Lin Zhiyong.

The deal concerns 12 separate projects, including the modernisation of 42 passenger coaches, the supply of four new mainline locomotives, two diesel shunting locomotives, 30,000 wooden sleepers, track maintenance vehicles, and components. Tazara says Chinese consultants will also provide staff training.

The work is being financed by China through a $US 66.2m loan and grant agreement signed earlier this year.

Mbikusita-Lewanika says funds provided by China to the Tanzanian and Zambian governments under 15 different protocols will keep the railway in operation over the next three years while the two African governments complete a desperately-needed programme of recapitalisation, reconstruction and restructuring.

Tazara has received regular financial support from the Chinese government in the form of interest-free loans dubbed 'protocols of economic and technical cooperation.' Once completed, the projects in the 14th and 15th protocols will bring much-needed additional capacity, doubling the number of locomotives in service by 2015.

THE first container train with a CIM/SMGS common consignment note was despatched by Russian Railways Logistics (RZDL) in cooperation with its Chinese subsidiary YuXinOu Logistics on October 31.

The train, which left Chongqing, China, destined for Poland and Germany, was carrying 42 40ft containers for various customers. Kaztransservice, Kazakhstan, and Belintertrans, Belarus were also involved in the inaugural service as RZDL's transit partners.

"Introduction of CIM/SMGS common consignment note is a result of two years of work by the railways of all the transit countries involved," says Mr Pavel Sokolov, CEO of RZDL. "Shippers save time due to the reduction of container demurrage at border stations."

The system will also save money. The client is usually charged for re-issuing the CIM consignment note in place of SMGS note for each shipment at border stations. The introduction of the CIM/SMGS common consignment note will eliminate these extra payments.

The common consignment note is a customs document which is issued in both paper and electronic form according to European Union requirements for prior authorisation.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets registered slight increases Tuesday mainly due to strong gains in banking and real estate stocks.

The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 13.23 points, or 0.62 percent, to close at 2,161.19; while the Shenzhen Component Index advanced 19.14 points, or 0.20 percent, to end at 9,560.03.

Both indices opened lower Tuesday due to overnight contractions in US and European markets. The Shanghai Composite Index declined to an intra-day low of 2,141.48 point mark in the morning session. An afternoon rally in the heavily weighted securities, real estate, banking, automobile, cement and coal sectors helped the index finish the day in positive territory.

The Anhui Development and Reform Commission disclosed that the Ministry of Railways would invest 37 billion yuan ($5.81 billion) more in railway infrastructure construction this year in order to boost the rail industry, according to a report by the National Business Daily Tuesday.

This news helped Shanghai-listed China Railway Group tack on 2.34 percent to 2.62 yuan. China Railway Construction advanced 3.10 percent to 4.65 yuan.

The first RMB qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) A-share exchange traded fund (ETF), the ChinaAMC CSI 300 Index ETF, started trading at the Hong Kong stock exchange Tuesday, and could inject nearly 5 billion yuan into the domestic markets, according to the Shanghai Securities News Tuesday.

Positive reports about the ETF and hopes that the government would soon roll out favorable policies to spur economic growth helped lift market sentiment Tuesday, say analysts.