Four new railways, including one dedicated passenger line, have been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, for construction, said the commission in statements released on its website yesterday.

The 261.3-km dedicated passenger line, linking Tianjin Municipality and Qinhuangdao in neighboring Hebei province, will begin from the Tianjin Railway Station and pass through Tianjin's Binhai New Area, Tangshan and Beidaihe in Hebei province.

The second one is the Lijiang-Shangri La Railway with a total length of 161km. The interprovincial railway starts from the Lijiang Railway Station and will route through Tiger Leaping Gorge and Xiaozhongdian, scenic spots in Yunnan province.

The longest one among the four newly-approved railways is the Xinjiang Kashi-Xinjiang Hetian Railway. Located in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the 487 km-line will pass through counties like Yingjisha, Shache, Yecheng and Pishan.

The last one is the Xi'an-Pingliang Railway that starts from Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province and goes through Liquan, Qianxian, Yongshou, Binxian and Changwu counties in the province and Jingchuan county in Gansu province. Finally, the railway will link up with the Baoji-Zhongwei Railway at the Pingliang South Railway Station.

China's railway construction is in full swing in recent years. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, the most expensive construction project with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, started construction in April this year.

Additionally, the country's first 350kmh-passenger line between Beijing and Tianjin, which is now under trial operation, is scheduled for launch on August 1 this year.

China plans to build a total of 7,820 km rail lines this year and foreign investment shall be introduced in the construction of railways, according to the Ministry of Railways. The ministry also said a total of 300 billion yuan ($42 billion) will be invested in China's railway construction this year.

China now has more than 76,000 km of railways, ranking third in the world by length after the United States and Russia.