RESEARCH and planning for the construction of the second high-speed railway between Shenzhen and Guangzhou have been listed in the 14th Five-Year Development Program for Guangdong Comprehensive Transport System, according to a Shenzhen Economic Daily report Thursday, quoting a source from the Guangdong transport department.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Guangdong will allocate 2 trillion yuan (US$308 billion) for major transportation infrastructure projects including the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) airport cluster, cross-Pearl River tunnel projects, expressways and high-speed rails.

In terms of cross-border connectivity with Hong Kong, the province will speed up construction of the Shenzhens Eastern Cross-border Expressway, conduct research on an express rail linking Hong Kong and western Shenzhen, as well as a passage from Shenzhen to Zhuhai and Macao via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

Rail transportation is a major driving engine for regional economic development and the plan sets its sights on building a rail network connecting GBA cities. This includes the construction of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai (Macao) high-speed rail and Zhuhai-Zhaoqing high-speed rail.

The second Shenzhen-Guangzhou high-speed rail construction is highly significant because it will link both cities’ urban areas to ensure high-frequency trips within an hour, the Daily report said.

According to earlier media reports, a maglev train that runs at 600 kilometers per hour will be put into use on the second high-speed railway and the trip between both cities’ urban areas will be cut to 15 minutes.

The distance between Shenzhen and Guangzhou’s urban areas is about 150 kilometers and it takes about 2 hours to travel between the two cities by car.

At present, there are three railways, namely the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway and Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen Intercity Rail, are running between the two cities. The fastest train on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway runs for 59 minutes, and it takes 29 minutes to travel from Shenzhen North Railway Station to Guangzhou South Station via the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Rail. (Han Ximin)