An integrated transportation network will get a major boost in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area this year as regional authorities seek to improve coordination. Transportation links connecting Hebei to Beijing and Tianjin are expected to improve this year. A freeway connecting Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei, to Tianjin is under construction. Freeways and high-speed rail links will cut transportation time between Hebei and Beijing or Tianjin to about an hour. “The high-speed railway between Shijiazhuang and Tianjin will be completed in 2015,” said Hebei Governor Zhang Qingwei. Construction is to start on a high-speed railway connecting Beijing and cities in northern Hebei such as Chengde and Zhangjiakou.