SHENZHEN is mulling over building the Airport East Transport Hub to offer a seamless connection between high-speed rail, Metro, ferry and flight services, according to a reply letter from the city’s rail construction office released this week to local legislators.

Two other high-speed railways — one linking Shenzhen and Zhaoqing in midwestern Guangdong Province and the other between Shenzhen and Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone — will be built, the office said, and will use the Airport East Transport Hub as the terminus in Shenzhen.

Upon completion, the new hub will also connect the in-service Xiamen-Shenzhen High-speed Railway to the planned Shenzhen-Maoming High-speed Railway.

The Shenzhen-Zhaoqing High-speed Railway will link the Guangzhou-Nanning and Guiyang-Guangzhou rail lines, while the Shenshan rail, which will go through Huizhou, will link with the Guangzhou-Shantou line.

Meanwhile, an inter-city express rail line will be built for commuters between Zhongshan, Shenzhen and Huizhou, according to a plan by the city’s planning and land commission. The rail will run 68.3 kilometers in Shenzhen, starting from the airport in Bao’an District and ending in Kengzi, Pingshan District, after making stops at the Airport East Transport Hub, Shiyan, Longhua and downtown Longgang District.

In the future, the line will be extended westward to Nansha on the western bank of the Pearl River and eastward to Huiyang and Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone.

During the annual session of the city’s legislature earlier this year, lawmakers proposed the planning for the Airport East Transport Hub as another high-speed railway hub in Shenzhen. Shenzhen now has Luohu Station and Shenzhen North Railway Station for high-speed trains while Xili Station is under construction.

Since its high-speed railway train service was introduced in April 2007, China has now entered the high-speed railway era, with increasing coverage of high-speed rails across the country.

China is now the proud possessor of the world’s longest high-speed railway network, with a combined track length of 25,000 kilometers by the end of last year. The network will expand to 30,000 kilometers by 2020.

Currently, China is among the leaders in high-speed railway technology, with an edge in some fields.

China is now exploring super high-speed trains that can travel at 1,500 km/h. High-speed magnetic suspension rail transport is the direction of the development of railway technology. China aims to reach a speed of up to 1,500 km/h by 2021.

(Han Ximin)