Guangdong–Hainan Railway

Guangdong–Hainan Railway
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	(Hainan)
Termini	Haikou Railway Station, Haikou, Hainan, China
Services	1

The Guangdong–Hainan Railway is a railway that operates from Haikou Railway Station in Hainan, to the South Port a few hundred metres northwest at the coast, across the Qiongzhou Strait by ferry to Zhanjiang at the tip of the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong, and then north into Guangdong.

Yuehai Ferry

The Yuehai Ferry (Chinese: 粤海铁路轮渡; pinyin: Yuè-Hǎi tiělù lúndù^[1]) is a train and vehicle ferry connecting two Chinese provinces: Guangdong and Hainan. The ferries run across the Qiongzhou Strait, between Zhanjiang, Guangdong and South Port which is a few hundred metres northwest of Haikou Railway Station.

When ferries containing railway cars arrive from Zhanjiang at the South Port, passengers not travelling in railway cars disembark. The passenger railway cars are unloaded from the ferries onto tracks. An engine is attached to these passenger cars. This then travels to the Haikou Railway Station. There, the passengers exit the railway cars and leave through the station. They may also connect to the Hainan Eastern Ring High-Speed Railway. Train cars carrying cargo also use this ferry service. These cars travel through the Haikou Railway Station, onto the Hainan Western Ring Railway, to other locations in Hainan, such as Dongfang.

The line has operated since January 2003, carrying both freight and passenger trains, enabling direct train service between the mainland and the cities of Haikou and Sanya on Hainan Island.^[2] In 2010, two ferry boats were in operation: Yuehai No. 1 and Yuehai No. 2. The third boat, Yuehai No. 3, was launched in Tianjin in September 2010.^[3]

Yuehai No. 3 and the fourth boat, Yuehai No. 4, entered revenue service with the ferry company on February 1, 2013.^[4] The two 23,000-ton vessels are 188 meter long, 23 meters wide and 15.3 meters in total height; they have a 5.6 m draft. The vessels carry rail cars at the lower deck and cars on the upper deck; there are passenger compartments as well. They travel at the speed of up to 17 knots.^[5]

Images of railway in Hainan

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  Main entrance road with toll booths

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  Walkway for pedestrian access to ferry

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  Ferry and rail line

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  Rail line that brings trains to the Haikou Railway Station

Notes

1. Yue 粤 is the standard Chinese abbreviation for Guangdng, and Hai 海, for Hainan.
2. "Train-ferry project making solid progress". By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily). Updated: 2006-06-06
3. Train Ferry across Qiongzhou Strait Launched at Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd 2010-10-12
4. 粤海铁路新增两艘万吨级火车渡轮投运琼州海峡
5. 粤海铁3、4号渡轮投入客滚运输 琼州海峡添运力, 2013-02-02

External links