CHINA's minister of railways Mr Sheng Guangzu says Yuan 400bn ($US 63.1bn) will be invested in railway infrastructure construction in 2012, which is 15% less than the Yuan 469bn spent this year, and a 42% reduction compared with the Yuan 700bn invested in 2010. Total fixed asset railway investment will be around Yuan 500bn next year.

There has been a moratorium of railway investment since the fatal high-speed train crash in Wenzhou in July, but Sheng says construction will go-ahead of 6366km of new lines. Sheng says railway development must continue as it plays a vital role in China's economy and helps to boost domestic demand. However, Sheng says construction will be carried out in a scientific and orderly manner.

Meanwhile, India's minister of railways Mr Dinesh Trivedi says that India needs to ramp up railway investment five-fold in order for Indian Railways (IR) to become a world-class carrier. Trivedi says a total of Rs 5604bn ($US 106bn) needs to be invested, a large proportion of which he expects to come from the private sector.

Trivedi has appointed an expert commission to help IR raise the necessary funds. "We cannot let the railways lag behind for a lack of resources," he says. IR plans to set a railway station authority along the lines of an airport authority to build world-class stations.