Construction work began on three railway lines in Shandong province on November 29— Handan-Jinan Railway Line, Dezhou-Dajiawa Railway Line and Longkou-Yantai Railway Line. The pre-existing Handan-Jinan line will be expanded, while the other two lines are to be newly constructed, according to Qilu Daily.

Shandong province will reportedly shape a “four vertical, four horizontal” major railway network. In addition to the three lines already under construction, other railway projects included in the plan will be built within the year.

Handan-Jinan line to expand coal outbound transportation capacity Handan-Jinan Railway Line is the west section along the Handan-Qingdao line—one of the "four horizontal” lines in Shandong—and is a key coal outbound transportation path for Shanxi province’s mid-south regions.

Electrification expansion work will be carried out from Handan South Station to Yancheng North Station, with a total length of 232 kilometers and duration of two years.

After the expansion work is complete, the locomotive traction capacity will attain 5,000 tons, which will further enhance the coal outbound transportation capacity for the mid-south regions in Shanxi province. It will also enable more passenger trains to travel between Jinan and Liaocheng.

Dezhou-Dajiawa and Longkou-Yantai lines: ’second Qingdao-Jinan north line’ Dezhou-Dajiawa and Longkou-Yantai lines, both planned to be part of the “four horizontal” lines, will be 256 kilometers in total length after completion, with an expected investment of 9.97 billion yuan.

The length of the proposed Longkou-Yantai line will be approximately 113 km with an expected investment of 6 billion yuan. Upon completion, the Dezhou-Dajiawa and Longkou-Yantai lines will connect with the existing Dajiawa-Laizhou-Longkou line, creating a full run-through along the Dezhou-Longkou-Yantai line.

The Dezhou-Longkou-Yantai railway line will be located north of the Qingdao-Jinan line, and is regarded by the industry as “the second Qingdao-Jinan railway line”. Its run-through will contribute to forming a large-capacity transportation channel in north Shandong, and make communications between Yantai and the northern economic belt in Shandong and the Yellow River Delta more convenient, effectively improving the investment environment in the area, .

"The construction work for other major railway lines included in the ‘four vertical four horizontal’ target will also be started soon within the year,” Jiang Daming, governor of Shandong province, said.

According to the Leading Group Meeting for Railway Construction in Shandong province, the “other major railway lines” Jiang mentioned include the Rongcheng section railway line along the Qingdao-Yantai-Weihailine, Shijiazhuang-Qingdao passenger line and the Qingdao-Rizhao-Lianyungang line.

By Li Jing