New Coal Railway Will Be Completed In 2001 - Brief Article

International Railway Journal, May, 2000

A multi-billion dollar project is underway to transport coal from China's largest coalfield, Shenfu-Dongsheng, to a coastal port now under construction in Hebei Province.

THE Shenhua coal project will cost a total of Yuan 90 billion ($US 10.8 billion) to complete. It calls for construction of a 1027km railway, a coal terminal at Huanghua port, an ocean-going fleet, and a power-generating station with a capacity of 2.6 million kW.

Shenfu-Dongsheng coalfield, which sits astride the border of the northwest province of Shaanxi and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, accounts for one quarter of verified coal reserves in China. It is the largest coal-producing area in the country, and one of the eight largest in the world.

The railway line begins at Baotou in Inner Mongolia and will snake eastward to Huanghua. It will be the second trunk rail line dedicated to coal transport from the coal-rich west to the coast. The first, which was opened to traffic in 1992, links Datong, a major coal mine area in northern Shanxi Province, to the Port of Qinghuangdao on Bohai Bay.

In 1987, the state-owned Shenhua Group (SGC) was authorised to implement the Shenhua project. "This cross-century project will be important to the national endeavour to develop the vast west," Mr Ye Qing, SGC board chairman and general manager, said.

Under the latest government decrees, the country is shifting the focus of economic construction to the "vast west" which, in China's official terminology, refers to 18 traditionally backward provinces and autonomous regions in the western part of the country. Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia are among them.

The rail project is being implemented in three phases. The first phase was completed in 1989 when a 172km line from Baotou to Shenmu was put into service. Work on the 266km second phase began in 1990. It runs from Shenmu to Shuozhou in Shaanxi. Tracklaying was completed in 1996, and the section has been in operation since then.

The last section of the coal-transport line, from Shuozhou to Huanghua port, is 586km long. It is being built as a key project in the third phase. Also in full swing is construction of Huanghua port at the eastern end of the railway and a power station fuelled by locally produced coal.

The Shenhua project will be completed in 2001. The Shenfu-Dongsheng coalfield will produce 60 million tonnes of coal a year. Half of the annual production will be transported by rail to Huanghua port, either for export or for supply to areas along the Chinese coast. "That's our short-term target," Ye says. "The long-term target is annual production of 100 million tonnes."

The Shenhua project is the third largest capital construction project currently underway in the country, next to the Three Gorges Dam project and the recently-initiated project to build a pipeline network to transport natural gas from as far as Xinjiang to Shanghai and other east China cities. "China needs this Shenhua project," Ye said. "Coal will remain the country's main fuel in the foreseeable future, even though the country is shifting to cleaner energy such as natural gas and hydro electricity."

Coal produced at Shenfu-Dongsheng has a relatively low content of sulphur (less than 0.5%), the main culprit for air pollution. And it is noted for a high calorific value (5600Kcal/kg of raw coal).

The rail section from Daliuta, the centre of the Shenfu-Dongsheng coalfield, to Huanghua port is 793km, 145 km shorter than the rail route currently in use--the so-called "north route" that links the coalfield with Tianjin port by way of the Datong--Qinghuangdao Railway.

The Baotou-Huanghua Railway will intersect the four north-south rail lines that connect Beijing with Shanghai, Hong Kong, Zhengzhou, Xian and other key cities in the south. "The importance of the Baotou--Huanghua railway is, obviously, not limited to coal transport," Ye says.

The double-track, electrified Shenmu- Shuozhou and the Shuozhou-Huanghua sections of the railway feature high technology in terms of traction performance, communications and electrification, all designed to meet the latest world standards.

The total investment for the Shuozhou--Huanghua section is estimated at Yuan 17.4 billion. This is funded by Yuan 5.88 billion in capital input by SGC, the Ministry of Railways and Shanxi and Hebei provinces; Yuan 6.4 billion in loans from the State Development Bank of China with an annual interest rate of 10.53%; and a Yuan 5.2 billion Japanese loan.

In May 1999, electrification officially began on the Shemnu--Shuozhou section. The work, which will cost Yuan 236 million, is scheduled for completion in August.

The eastern Shuozhou--Huanghua section is being built in two stages. Work on the first stage, the 420km section from Shenchi in Shanxi to Suning in Hebei, started in November 1997 and is due for completion this month.