China will launch a nationwide railway speed acceleration this year, the sixth in nine years, to boost transport capacity, a senior railway expert said yesterday.

After the speed raise this year, nearly 10,000 kilometers of railways will have experienced the operation, according to He Huawu, chief engineer with the Ministry of Railways. Upon completion, China's express railway network, which allows speeds of over 160 km per hour, will also include around 6,000 km of upgraded high-speed routes with a running capacity of 200 km per hour, according to He, who was attending a ceremony marking the 110th anniversary of Jiaotong (Communication) University in southwest China.

However, He did not disclose the time-scale for the speed acceleration.

China raised its railway speed for the first time in 1997. The fifth speed increase, launched on April 18, 2004, has helped to increase the country's passenger and freight transport capacity by 18.5 percent and 15 percent, respectively, over the past two years, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, China's railways completed 1.154 billion passenger journeys last year, 18.7 percent more than before the speed was raised, and transported a total of 2.686 billion tons of cargo.

China has 22,090 km of railways which can allow trains to run at a speed above 120 km per hour, 14,025 km of railways above 160 km per hour and 5,371 km above 200 km per hour.

He noted that China's railway transportation capacity still lags far behind the economic and social development demand and the government has made up its mind to increase investment in the development of express railways, high-speed rail lines, rail traffic service between and within cities between 2006-2010. According to the plan, China will carry out some 200 projects concerning railway construction, including investing at least 1,250 billion yuan (some 156 billion U.S. dollars) to build 7,000 km of passenger rail lines, during the period, known as the 11th five-year plan for national economic and social development.