Guangzhou–Zhuhai Railway

Route map of Guangzhou-Zhuhai Railway

Guangzhou–Zhuhai Railway (Chinese: 广珠铁路) is a railway between Jiangcun (Chinese: 江村) in Guangzhou and Gaolan Port (Chinese: 高栏港) in Zhuhai, via the cities of Foshan and Jiangmen, in Guangdong, China. Opened at the end of 2012, it is used for freight only.

Role

The railway is used for freight transportation only, with the possibility of introducing some passenger trains later on. It will consists of a total length of 186 kilometers and 11 stations. Trains will travel at an estimated 120 km/h.^[1]

Until the 21st century, Zhuhai did not have any railway connections to the rest of the country. Now, however, there are two new railways there: besides the Guangzhou–Zhuhai Railway for freight trains, the passenger-only Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway, is a passenger-only line, started construction in 2005 and was to be completed in 2010.^[2] Since the intercity rail will take up the role of the passenger service between Guangzhou and Zhuhai, this can explain why Guangzhou–Zhuhai Railway will not be routed via Guangzhou City Area.^[3]

History

This railway project was approved by the State Development Planning Commission in 1993. The construction originally started in 1997, but it was stopped later due to lack of funds. Construction was resumed in 2007; at the time, it was expected to be completed in 2011.^[1][4] However, work did not proceeded as fast as expected; as of December 2011, it was reported that although most of the critical components of the project was completed, there was still about 100 m to go at the Jiangmen tunnel (see below), and the Jiangbei Bridge was still under construction.^[5]

In mid-October 2012, it was reported that the construction work has been essentially completed.^[6] The railway opened for freight traffic on December 30, 2012.^[7]

Jiangmen tunnel

Constructing the railway involves digging a 9185 m long tunnel in Jiangmen. By May 2010, over half of the tunnel had been dug, and the entire tunnel was expected to be completed by the end of February 2011.^[8] However, as of December 2011 it was reported that the workers still had about 100 m to go.^[5]

References

1. Guangzhou-Zhuhai Rail Back on Track
2. Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway to resume construction after decade suspension
3. 停工八年广珠铁路复建　在新轨运行不停广州 (Chinese Version)
4. Guangzhou-Zhuhai Railway Co. Ltd
5. 广珠铁路公司将开行多趟直达广珠间货运列车 (The Guangzhou-Zhuhai Railway Company will run numerous direct freight trains between Guangzhou and Zhuhai), 2011-12-01 (Chinese)
6. 广珠铁路主体工程完工 年内有望开通 (The main parts of the Guang-Zhu Railway construction project have been completed; looking forward to opening within this year), 2012年10月13 (Chinese)
7. 广珠铁路首趟货运列车从珠海高栏港站首发(图) (The first freight trains runs on the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Railway from Zhuhai to Guangzhou)
8. 广珠铁路 穿山4685米 入地4500米 广珠铁路 穿山4685米 入地4500米 (2010-05-15)