Island province in south China to be linked by railway

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 ◆ Island province in south China to be linked by railway

Hainan, an island province in south China, is expected to greet the first train from the mainland at the end of this year, the China Economic Times reported recently.

Hainan Island and the mainland are separated by the Qiongzhou Strait. People traveling to the island have to take a ferry or plane.

The State Council approved a feasibility report on building the country's first cross-strait railway line in August 1998. The project will cost 4.5 billion (542 million US dollars) jointly funded by the Ministry of Railways and governments of Hainan and Guangdong provinces.

The 568.3-km line begins in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province. It runs through Leizhou Peninsula, extends across the Qiongzhou Strait, joins up with an existing railway line in western Hainan Island, and finally terminates in Sanya at the southern tip of the island.

The 138-km long Zhanjiang-Hai'an section, an important part of the Guangdong-Hainan railway, opened to traffic in January this year. The entire railway will be operating by 2003.