The extension of the electric railway between Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in China's east, and Zhuzhou city in Hunan province in central China, was recently completed. This now means that the total amount of electric railway line in China exceeds 24,000 kilometers, the second-largest network in the world behind Russia.

Electric trains have a high transport capacity, low operation costs and energy consumption, and are environmentally friendly.

The first electric railway was built between Baoji and Fengzhou, both located in Shannxi province in the northwest of China, in 1958. By the end of the 10th Five-Year Plan, the length of the line had exceeded 20,000 kilometers. There are currently 49 electric railway lines in use, which carry 43 percent of goods transported by rail, and accounting for 27 percent of the combined length of China's railways.

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