THE 76-km Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen intercity rail link will start service Sept. 30 this year. After the operation of the rail link, a one-way trip from the Shenzhen airport to Guangzhou East Railway Station will take only one hour. The trains are expected to depart at five-minute intervals. The line, stretching from Xintang Station in Zengcheng, Guangzhou, to the Shenzhen airport, is now under inspection and final review, which will pave the way for starting test runs in July. There are 15 stations on the rail line, 10 of which are above ground. The Guangzhou terminus at Xintang Station connects with a through-service via Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway out of Guangzhou East Railway Station. The train will run at speeds between 140 and 160 kilometers per hour, with a passenger capacity of 1,200 per train. The Shenzhen section has four stations, namely Shajing West, Heping, Shenzhen Airport North and Shenzhen Airport stations, and a total length of 17 kilometers. The construction of the four stations has entered the final engineering period for decoration and mechanical & electrical installation. A passage will be built to link Shenzhen Airport Station with the airport’s Terminal 3, providing quick access to the air transport hub. In the future, the railway will be extended to Qianhai in Shenzhen, and connected to both Guangzhou East Railway Station and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. The section between Xintang and the Guangzhou airport will be put into operation in August 2022. It will take 20 minutes to get from Xintang to the Guangzhou airport. The 15.4-kilometer extension to Qianhai will be underground with three stations, and is expected to cost 10.6 billion yuan (US$1.55 billion). Work on the extension line is expected to start at the end of 2019. (Han Ximin) |