Northern Intercity Rail Network Gets Planners' Go-Ahead

The first Rongcheng-to-Qingdao bullet train leaves Rongcheng on Nov. 16 on the intercity railway connecting the two cities. Photo: IC

(Beijing) — China's top economic planner approved a 247 billion yuan ($35.7 billion) intercity railway network linking Beijing, Tianjin and the surrounding Hebei province, part of the country's plan to build a megalopolis in northern China.

The China Railway Corp. (CRC), the city governments of Beijing and Tianjin, and Hebei's provincial government gained approval to build a 1,100-km rail network comprising nine lines by 2020 in the "Jing-Jin-Ji" region — shorthand for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei — the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement posted on its website on Monday.