The Chengtai Railway is the only re gauge Government railway. It was granted as a concession to the Russo-Chinese Bank in 1898, and n loan of £1,600,000 was floated fur construction purposes in 1902. The line was opened for traffic in October, 1907, and was a very ex pensive piece of work.—French engineers were employed, and vouch influence predominates as France provided the money.
The Taokow-Chinghua Railway is a branch of the Peking-Banke Railway, and was built by Messrs. Pearson' & Ca., the British ish contract. tors, for the Peking Syndicate who acquired extensive railway and mining rights in Honan and Shansi in The line was opened for trafic in July, 1904, and was houzht by the Government with a 650,000—cost of line plus cent.—in 1905, the Peking continuing to operate taking 20 per cent. of the profits. A further loan from the same source was negotiated in 1914 for £800,000.
'The Kaifeng-Honan Railway was constructed with a Franco-Belgian Joan for £1,000,000, floated in 1903, and it was opened' for traffic in October, 1908. The western extension of this railway linking up the Peking-Hankow Railway with the Tientsin-Pukou Railway was completed in 1915, but is still operated on the part of China to exercise her undoubted rights to the unfettered development of Manchuria, acquired under the Portsmouth Treaty of 191 In 1915 the handing over of control of the line to Japan was demanded, and this took place in the following year. A Japanese loan for Y.2,150,000 was negotiated for this line. The line was opened for traffic in October, 1912
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.