Sweeping plan aims for new rail web

GUANGDONG is considering plans to extend its intercity railway network to a 2,000km system covering 13 cities, a strategy that analysts say will enable Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta to get the edge over their regional competitors.

The province's blueprint includes connecting Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhuhai and Foshan in a ring of rail links to eight other delta cities. The cities of Zhaoqing, Kaiping, Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhongshan are also to be included, as would rural areas such as Qingyuan, Enping and Taishan, which had been excluded from Guangdong's metropolitan circle.

The infrastructure plans are part of Guangdong's "thought liberation" process — a phrase coined by Guangdong Communist Party chief Wang Yang urging cadres to think more broadly. The rail network would rival those in Paris or Tokyo, the Nanfang Daily reported Monday.
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