Guangdong aims to open up province with railway programme
Network set to open province's less developed areas to investment, but costs will be huge
A railway construction boom in Guangdong will help boost the economy by opening up more deprived areas to investment and improving links between cities in the province, experts said.
But the huge cost of the projects may pose a major challenge for the already debt-laden province, an analyst warned.
The high-speed line between Xiamen and Shenzhen will be the first to link two well-developed economic zones: the Pearl River Delta and the west side of the Taiwan Strait in Fujian province, said Peng Peng , a researcher at the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences.
"The line, which goes through southeastern coastal cities, will redefine the role of Guangdong's eastern area that has long been an economic backwater." The east of the province has suffered because of its poor rail and transport links, Peng said.
The new route forms part of the province's ambitious railway-expansion plan. Lines linking the province to Guizhou , Guangxi and Jiangxi are all due to be completed next year.
Guangdong's Development and Reform Commission said in August that all cities in the province would also be connected with high-speed or fast rail lines by 2020.
This network will make it possible for anyone living in the province's remote east, north and west to travel to cities in the Pearl River Delta within 2½ hours.