Tientsin-Shanghai Railway Double-Tracked
Source: Peking Review, Nos. 32-33, August 9, 1976
Transcribed by
www.wengewang.org The 1,300-km. Tientsin-Shanghai Railway, a trunk line in east China running from Tientsin in the north to Shanghai in the south through Hopei, Shantung, Anhwei and Kiangsu Provinces, has been double-tracked. Joined with the double-tracked Peking-Tientsin line, it forms an important link between the capital and east China. Double-tracking the line will help greatly to develop industry and agriculture in the coastal areas, facilitate construction in China's hinterland and consolidate its national defence.
The Tientsin-Shanghai line was built early this century by imperialists to plunder China's wealth. The old railway was of poor quality and its installations and equipment wore-obsolete. After liberation, the line was renovated several times and its capacity markedly raised. But it still could not meet the needs of the country's developing national economy. Construction of the second track began in 1958. The project, however, virtually stopped in 1960 owing to the interference and sabotage by Liu Shao-chi's revisionist line. Work was resumed in the Great Cultural Revolution thanks to the criticism of Liu Shao-chi's revisionist line. The movements to criticize Lin Piao and Confucius and to repulse Teng Hsiao-ping's Right deviationist attempt at reversing correct verdicts have heightened the builders' enthusiasm and thus given a big push to the project.
Apart from professional builders, local people along the line turned out in large numbers to help. Progress quickened in the second half of 1975. A year's hard work since then included the moving of 9,140,000 cubic metres of earth and stone for the roadbed and the building of more than 400 big and small bridges including a 5.7-kilometre-long one with 163 arches which spans the Yellow River at Tsinan. The double-tracking was completed ahead of schedule recently.
