Greater Mekong Subregion

Dali-Lijiang Railway Project

Overview

The poor interior regions in the PRC have not benefited as much from economic growth as the east coast. There remain significant gaps in economic and social development among these regions. Transport constraints and high logistics costs are two of the factors contributing to regional economic disparities and constrain the western region from capitalizing on its comparative advantages, for instance, in terms of its abundant natural resources.

The Project is in line with the PRC Government's western development strategy to provide less-developed regions with better infrastructure to facilitate economic growth, thereby increasing opportunities for people in these areas to improve their living standards.

The project will reduce transport constraints in northwestern Yunnan Province and provide connectivity to Kunming, Shanghai, and Beijing through three of the 16 east-west and north-south national railway corridors. This will provide accessibility to the ports of Fangcheng and Beihai in the PRC and Haiphong in Viet Nam. The Project will promote regional cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Three planned rail links (Yuxi-Mengzi, Dali-Ruili, and Xishangbanna to Lao PDR) will connect the Dali-Lijiang Railway to south and southeast Asia through Myanmar, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam, thus promoting cross-border trade and stimulating industrial, natural resource, and tourism development.

Objectives and Scope

The Project's main objective is to remove a transport constraint to sustainable economic growth. Providing economic railway transportation in the unserved, less-developed, and poor areas will help create the conditions necessary for developing local resources and generating employment and income-enhancing opportunities that will raise living standards in the project area.

The Project will entail constructing 167 km of single-track, standard gauge, Class I railway, reserved for electrification, between Dali and Lijiang, and expanding the capacity of the existing Guangtong-Dali line (Guangda line) to accommodate additional traffic. Apart from the construction of the physical infrastructure, the Project will also include:

• a safety component that will provide modern technology and equipment for signaling, communications, dispatch management information system, freight yard operation, operational safety equipment, mechanized maintenance of tracks
• installing e-governance and MIS, including computerization and linking Dali and Lijiang to the national railway network
• supply of environmental mitigation and protection equipment and facilities
• training on the use and maintenance of equipment provided under the project
• strengthening institutional capacity for the Ministry of Railways (MOR) and the West Yunnan Railway Company (WYRC)

The Project also has an accompanying technical assistance for Support to Ethnic Minorities Development Plan (for $150,000 equivalent), to assist local governments in, among others, capacity building skill enhancement programs for the poor, vulnerable groups, and ethnic minorities; undertaking feasibility studies for cultural protection and preservation; and assessing measures for the preservation of local cultures.

Implementation Arrangements

The WYRC will be responsible for overall project implementation, land acquisition and resettlement, construction, and commissioning of the project railway.

Project Cost

The total cost of the project is estimated at $548 million equivalent, comprising of $236.2 million in foreign exchange and $311.8 million equivalent in local currency.

Financing Plan ($million)

Status

Estimated Project Completion Date

For detailed information on the project, write to the
GMS Unit (ADB) at the following e mail address:
gms@adb.org