V. Transportation

Railways:

Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province, is the geographical center of China, where the Lanzhou-Urumqi, Baotou-Lanzhou, Longhai (Lianyungang-Lanzhou), and Lanzhou-Xining trunk railways meet. The Baoji-Lanzhou and Lanzhou-Wuwei sections of the Longhai Railway have become electric. The Baoji-Zhongwei Railway, a new line, is now open to traffic. A dual route of the Lanzhou-Urumqi Railway was completed in May 1995. And the construction of a local railroad in Pingqing is now in full swing. By the end of 1997, the length of Gansu’s railroads in operation had totaled 1,982 kilometers, the volume of rail freight had become 42 billion tons, and the passenger volume had reached 5 billion people/km. The opening to traffic of the Eurasian Bridge has turned the vast hinterland of China, including Gansu Province, into an international thoroughfare.

Highways:

There are 72 national and provincial highways linking roads in the counties and townships, with a total length of 35,000 kilometers. The Tianshui-Beidao and Lanzhou-Zhongchuan Airport expressways are open to traffic. The volume of goods transported on the highways reached 8.5 billion tons and the passenger volume, 500 million people/km.

Airports:

Gansu has formed an air-transport system with Lanzhou as the center. There are more than 20 air routes with a total length of 35,700 kilometers leading to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Urumqi, Hong Kong as well as cities within the province, such as Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Tianshui, and Qingyang. The volume of air cargo reached 4.3 million tons/kilometers and the passenger volume, 42.22 people/kilometers.