Han Ximin

1824295095@qq.com

SHENZHEN, as a core city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), has been sparing no effort in building the Shenzhen Metropolitan Circle, contributing to railway connectivity in the GBA, and ensuring that the travel time between Shenzhen and other core cities in the region is within 30 minutes.

Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway, which started to have four lines in 2007, has become one of the busiest railways in China. The 147-kilometer railway linking Guangzhou Railway Station and Shenzhen Railway Station is one of the trunk railways of the Pearl River Delta intercity railway network. Shenzhen also opened Guangzhou-Shenzhen Intercity Railway and Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Link.

With the GBA’s development and formation of metropolitan circles, the number of railways connecting GBA cities and metropolitan circles will reach over 30 and the total length of the railway network will reach 5,000 kilometers, with around 100 million passenger trips handled a year for traveling, businesses and tourism.

The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail line was put into operation in September 2018, bringing Hong Kong into the mainland’s high-speed railway network and strengthening coordinated development in the GBA.

Earlier this May, Hong Kong’s East Rail Line, which is seamlessly connected with Shenzhen Metro Line 4 and Line 1 via Futian (Lok Ma Chau) and Luohu (Lowu) checkpoints, respectively, commenced its cross-harbor extension services, enabling travelers from Shenzhen to reach the commercial, convention, exhibition and financial hubs in the Wan Chai North and Admiralty areas without having to change trains in Hung Hom Station in Hong Kong.

In October 2021, Hong Kong outlined five proposed projects including extending the East Rail Line to Luohu to improve rail connectivity in Northern Territories and cross-border connectivity with Shenzhen. Other projects included the construction of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Railway, extending the Northern Link northwards to connect with the new Huanggang Checkpoint in Shenzhen via the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park (HSITP) in the Lok Ma Chau Loop area.

According to Guangdong’s 14th five-year transport plans, the new Huanggang Checkpoint will be a hub integrating the Shenzhen-Guangzhou Central Axis Line, Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen Intercity Railway and Metro Line 20, as well as reserving connection with Hong Kong Northern Link’s spur line.

Across the Pearl River, work on Shenzhen-Jiangmen High-speed Railway will be completed in 2025. The 116.12-kilometer railway is part of the Shenzhen-Maoming high-speed rail, an important line of the national network that comprises eight horizontal rail lines and eight vertical rail lines. Upon completion in 2025, it will bring Qianhai-Shekou Free Trade Area (FTA) in Shenzhen and Nansha FTA in Guangzhou into a half-hour life circle and contribute to the construction of 30-minute life and economic circles for GBA cities.

In January 2021, work on Shenzhen-Shenshan High-speed Rail was officially inaugurated. The 129-kilometer high-speed rail will cut the trip between downtown Shenzhen and Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone to 30 minutes when the rail is scheduled to be put into operation in 2025.

The rail runs 55 kilometers in Shenzhen, 57 kilometers in Huizhou and 17 kilometers in Shenshan. It will be connected with Guangzhou-Shanwei Railway at Shenshan Station and become part of the future coastal high-speed rail corridor. This was the second high-speed rail project that was put under construction since the kickoff of the Airport-Qianhai section of Guangdong Dongguan-Shenzhen Intercity Rail in June 2020. The city had planned to construct five rails to boost the connectivity within the GBA. The other rails are the Longgang-Dapeng spur line of Shenzhen-Huizhou Intercity Rail, Shenzhen-Huizhou Intercity Rail, and Shenzhen-Daya Bay Intercity Rail.

By 2025, according to the GBA intercity railway construction plan issued by Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the GBA’s railway network, both in operation and under construction, will reach 4,700 kilometers, covering central and key cities.