China - NanGuang Railway Project

Page 1 INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AC4072 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 03/18/2009 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: China Project ID: P112359 Project Name: NanGuang Railway Project Task Team Leader: John Carter Scales Estimated Appraisal Date: March 30, 2009 Estimated Board Date: June 25, 2010 Managing Unit: EASCS Lending Instrument: Specific Investment Loan Sector: Railways (100%) Theme: Public expenditure, financial management and procurement (P) IBRD Amount (US$m.): 300.00 IDA Amount (US$m.): 0.00 GEF Amount (US$m.): 0.00 PCF Amount (US$m.): 0.00 Other financing amounts by source: Borrower 5,685.00 5,685.00 B. Project Objectives [from section 2 of PCN] The objective of the Project is to provide additional transport capacity and reduce transport time between the relatively poor provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan in southwest China and the ports and economic growth centers in the Pearl River delta region. The project addresses the growing demand for rail passenger and freight services by providing a much shorter and quicker transport link between these provinces. The assessment of the achievement of the Project development objective will be carried out through the measurement of outcome indicators comprised of the number of trains run and respective travel time. With the building of this line, the distance between Nanning and Guangzhou would be reduced by about 250 km as compared to the existing rail route via Lizhan-Guangmao railways. The travel time of passenger trains would be reduced from the current 14 hours to 3.2 hours. With the rebuilding and upgrading of the NanKun Railway between Nanning and Kunming, fast corridors between the provincial capital cities of Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong and Fujian would be established. The new line will also provide a high-quality logistics corridor between Nanning and the Pearl Delta ports. C. Project Description [from section 3 of PCN] Page 2 The project is a part of a railway line between Nanning in Guangxi province and Guanzhou in Guangdong province. The project consists of a new double track electrified railway line of about 570 km between New Litang and Sanyanqiao, 16 km short of Guangzhou. (NanGuang line).The line consists of three parts: (a) Western section, Nanning Station to New Litang Station (92 km), (b) Central section, New Litang Station to New Zhaoqing Station (400 km), and (c) Eastern section, New Zhaoqing Station to Sanyanqiao Station (61 km). The project will construct the center section and two of the four tracks in the Eastern section (462 km). On the eastern end its tracks will run parallel with those of the proposed GuiGuang Railway line, within the same right- of-way, between New Zhaoqing and Sanyanqiao stations. The Western section will also have four tracks; two of these would be constructed as part of another on-going project from Nanning to Guilin and two tracks would be constructed as an extension of the project line to Nanning. The maximum operating speed of trains on the new line will be 200 km/h for passenger and 120 km/hr for freight trains. It is expected that the travel time for passengers between Nanning and Guangzhou will be reduced from the present 14 hours (express) to a little over 3.5 hours. This line will provide additional capacity for freight trains also to handle growing demand. The proposed alignment of the NanGuang line is relatively direct between New Litang (located on the proposed LiuNan Passenger Dedicated Line) and Sanyanqiao via New Zhaoqing (located on the proposed GuiGuang Railway line) and touches major urban centers such as Litang, Guigang, Wuzhou, Zhaoqing and Foshan. The line traverses through lightly-populated country, passing through a limited number of major centers en- route. The proposed alignment traverses through a variety of terrains including flat alluvial terraces and eroded basins and hilly/river valley basins. The line will have 199 bridges and viaducts (approximate length 152 km, 33%), and 106 tunnels (approximate length 94 km, 20%). Thus, about 53% of the new construction will be on bridges and through tunnels. The planned construction period is about 4 years. It is planned to commence construction of this line in early 2009 and commission the line in 2013. The project cost (2005 prices) including the cost of locomotives and working capital is estimated at RMB 29.5 billion (US$ 4.3 billion). Though yet to be decided, the Bank loan will most likely finance goods and equipment possibly consisting of signaling, electrification, bridge beams, and/or concrete sleepers and will most likely not finance civil works or rolling stock. This is similar to the last two China Railways projects financed by the Bank. Once the procurement list is agreed, the appropriate disbursement profile will be determined. As has been the standard procedure for railway projects in China, the Bank