Guiyang–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway

Guiyang-Guangzhou High Speed Railway 贵广高速铁路
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Guiyang Guangzhou
Termini	Guiyang East Guangzhou South
Services	1
Operation
Opened	December 26th 2014
Operator(s)	China Railway High-speed
Technical
Line length	856 km (532 mi)[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Operating speed	250 km/h (155 mph)

Guiyang-Guangzhou HSR Route Map
Legend
Chongqing-Guizhou HSR Chengdu-Guiyang HSR Shanghai-Kunming HSR Guiyang North Shanghai-Kunming HSR Guiyang Longli North Changming Tuyun East Sandu County Rongjiang Congjiang Guizhou/Guangxi border Sanjiang South Wutong Hunan–Guangxi Railway Guilin West Hunan–Guangxi Railway Guilin North Hunan–Guangxi Railway Yangshuo Gongcheng Zhongshan North Luoyang–Zhanjiang Railway Hezhou Luoyang–Zhanjiang Railway Guangxi/Guangdong border Huaiji Guangning Nanning-Guangzhou HSR Zhaoqing East Sanshui South Foshan West Wuhan-Guangzhou HSR Guangzhou South GZ-SZ-HK Express Rail Link

Guiyang-Guangzhou High Speed Railway, is a high-speed rail (HSR) line in southern China between Guiyang and Guangzhou, the provincial capitals, respectively of Guizhou and Guangdong Province. The line, also known as the Guiguang HSR, is dedicated to high speed passenger rail service.^[2] The line is 856 km (532 mi) in length and can carry trains at speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph).^[1] The line was built from 2008 to 2014 and opened on December 26, 2014.

The line traverses rugged karst terrain in Guizhou and Guangxi and relies on extensive bridges and tunnels, which comprise 83% of the line's total length.^[2] The travel time by train between the two terminal cities was reduced from 20 hours to 4 hours.^[1]

History

Construction progress on the Guiyang-Guangzhou High Speed Railway, bridge over the Xingping Reservoir in Xingping district of Yangshou county, Guilin, August 2013.

The Guiguang HSR was a major trunk route planned in the 11th Five Year Plan by the Chinese government. It is designed to serve as a rapid rail link between the southwest China and the Pearl River Delta. Construction began in 2008 and was completed in 2014. The line was built to accommodate train speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph), with the capacity to be remodelled to allow train speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph).

Route

The Guigang HSR takes a more direct route between its terminal cities, and crosses exceptionally difficult and mountainous terrain, which made construction very costly. The project cost an estimated 85.8 billion RMB (USD$12.6 billion),^[3] although this figure was later revised to 94.6 billion RMB.^[4]

The line runs from Guangzhou through Foshan, Sanshui and Zhaoqing in the densely populated Pearl River Delta and then crosses the Lingnan mountain range via Huaiji into Guangxi. It continues in a northwesterly direction through Hezhou and Zhongxiang to the famed scenic cities of Yangshuo and Guilin and then on to Sanjiang. The line enters Guizhou at Congjiang near the southeast tip of the province and passes Rongjiang, Sandu, Duyun, and Longli on to Guiyang in the center of the province.

This line traverses 270 tunnels and 510 valleys across the karst landscape.^[2] Bridges and tunnels account for 83% of the line's total length, including 92% in Guizhou Province.^[2] A total of 238 tunnels, totaling 464 km, were built along route including nine tunnels over 10 km in length.^[1] The longest tunnel, through the Yan Mountain in Rongjiang, is 14.693 km.^[1]

References

1. (Chinese) 陈清浩, "贵广高铁正式开通运营 从贵阳到广州4小时可达" 南方日报 2014-12-26
2. (Chinese) "揭秘：贵广高铁如何穿越喀斯特" 南方都市报 2014-12-26
3. http://en.chinagate.cn/news/2008-10/14/content_16606923.htm
4. Ollivier, Gerald; Sondhri, Jitendra; Zhou, Nanyan (1 October 2014). "How China Builds High-Speed Rail for Less". International Railway Journal (Simmons-Boardman Publishing). Retrieved 28 May 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).