Rail link ‘can spur growth of Tianjin Eco-city’
TRAVEL BETWEEN the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city (SSTEC) and other parts of Tianjin will be seamless and shorter when a rail link is ready in about four years.
More importantly, it could be a “game-changer” in spurring the eco-city's development.
A ground-breaking ceremony |for the new line was held at the SSTEC yesterday, attended by Singapore’s National Development Minister Lawrence Wong and China's Housing and Urban-Rural Development Minister Chen Zhenggao.
Expected to be completed |by 2020, the long-anticipated |semi- express line will link the eco-city to a high-speed railway running between Tianjin and Beijing. It will also link the SSTEC to a light rail line in the Tianjin Binhai New Area.
Currently, SSTEC residents who want to get to Tianjin city first take a 30-minute bus ride to Binhai New Area, where they switch to the train, a one-hour journey. With the new rail link, travel time is expected to be cut to one hour.
Wong called the new line “critical” as the enhanced rail connectivity would accelerate the eco-city's development. “We are at a critical juncture of our eco-city development, where we have overcome some of the initial teething issues and are now at an inflection point,” he told reporters on the sidelines of his visit to the SSTEC, his first as Minister for National Development.
“Over the next three to five years, if we are able to do well and focus on getting the job done, we can ensure a successful take-off.”
Liew Choon Boon, chief executive of the SSTEC's master developer, said the new 44km line would be a “game-changer” as it would facilitate greater movement in the Binhai area, which has a population of three million.
Three of the new rail line’s 23 stops will be in the eco-city.
