(CFP Photo)

Jiangsu completed investment of 5.7 billion yuan into the construction of railway branch lines from January to October this year, accounting for 82.62% of the yearly investment target.

This included the investment of 1 billion yuan completed in October alone, an increase of about 61% compared with September.

Since the opening in last April, the railway line for Nanjing's Longtan port area has played an important role in transporting goods from Nanjing and the surrounding areas directly to Shanghai, where they then get shipped to overseas markets. In the past, enterprises needed to first use ships or trucks to transport the goods to Shanghai. The new route means enhancing the efficiency of freight movement nearly by 200% and cutting the cost by half compared with truck transportation.

According to Jiangsu Provincial Railway Office, branch lines are now available in ports along the sea and the Yangtze River, including those in Lianyungang, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Nantong, Yancheng, Taicang and Xuzhou.

The coastal city of Lianyungang has integrated and coordinated the transportation services through ports, railways, and shipping for international trade. The regular freight trains to Turkey, Poland, Germany as well as the Japan-China-Mongolia and China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan trade routes have all realized stable operation.

Construction of a branch line for Taicang Port started at the end of last year. Among ports along the Yangtze River, Taicang has most routes and destinations.

In addition, efforts have also been made to speed up the construction of branch lines to serve Yangkou Port, Nantong Port and Dafeng Port.