China's leading railway contractor has won the bids to build two
major railways in Libya, which together are worth about 3.2 billion
dinars (2.6 billion U.S. dollars), according to the company.
The two contracts won by the China Railway Construction
Corporation (CRCC) are a west-to-east coastal railway from Khums to
Sirt and a south-to-west railway that would facilitate iron ore
transportation from southern city Sebha to Misurata as well as
passenger transportation along the line.
Construction of the 352-km-long coastal railway and the
800-km-long south-to-north railway has been initially set to begin
in June this year. The coastal railway will take four years to
complete, while the south-to-north railway will take three
years.
The CRCC won 89.5 billion yuan (12.4 billion U.S. dollars) worth
of overseas construction contracts in the first 11 months of
2007.
(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2008)
