Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong High-Speed Railway

Beijing–​Guangzhou–​Shenzhen–​Hong Kong High-Speed Railway 京广深港高速铁路
A CRH380AL trainset departing Beijing for Shenzhen as G71
Overview
Type	High-speed rail
Status	operational
Locale	Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Hong Kong
Termini	Beijingxi Station (further: Fengtai Station) West Kowloon Terminus
Stations	46
Operation
Opened	December 26, 2012
Owner	China Railway MTR Corporation
Operator(s)	China Railway High-speed MTR Corporation
Depot(s)	Beijing MU Depot Shijiazhuang MU Depot Zhengzhou MU Depot Wuhan MU Depot Changsha MU Depot Guangzhou MU Depot Shenzhen MU Depot Shek Kong Depot
Rolling stock	CRH380A series
Technical
Line length	2,230 km (1,390 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	350 km/h (220 mph)
Route map Legend 0 Beijing West 59 Zhuozhou East 84 Gaobeidian East 139 Baoding East 200 Dingzhou East 244 Zhengding Airport 280 Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan 323 Gaoyi West 384 Xingtai East 437 Handan East 496 Anyang East 542 Hebi East 595 Xinxiang East Yellow River 663 Zhengzhou East Zhengzhou–Xi'an 744 Xuchang East 799 Luohe West 864 Zhumadian West 917 Minggang East 960 Xinyang East 1024 Xiaogan North Hengdian East Yangtze River 1136 Wuhan Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu Wulongquan East 1221 Xianning North 1264 Chibi North 1346 Yueyang East 1416 Miluo East 1484 Changsha South 1524 Zhuzhou West 1591 Hengshan West 1632 Hengyang East 1687 Leiyang West 1766 Chenzhou West Lechang East 1896 Shaoguan 1966 Yingde West 2023 Qingyuan 2060 Guangzhou North 2105 Guangzhou South Guangzhou–Zhuhai 2136 Qingsheng Shiziyang Tunnel 2155 Humen 2191 Guangmingcheng Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen 2208 Shenzhen North 2216 Futian Mainland China Hong Kong SAR 2247 West Kowloon

The Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong High-Speed Railway or Jingguangshengang High-Speed Railway from its Chinese name (simplified Chinese: 京广深港高速铁路; traditional Chinese: 京廣深港高速鐵路) is a high-speed railway of the CRH passenger service, ultimately connecting Beijingxi Station in Beijing and Futian Station in Shenzhen. It will then cross the border and follow the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link Hong Kong section to West Kowloon Station in Hong Kong. When finished, it will be 2,230 kilometres (1,390 mi) long, and will be the only Chinese high-speed railway to cross a border that requires immigration and customs clearance.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]} The existing, conventional Jingguang railway runs largely parallel to the line.

History

Construction started in 2005. The Wuhan–Guangzhou section opened in December 2009, the Guangzhou–Shenzhen section opened in December 2011, the Zhengzhou–Wuhan section opened in September 2012, and the Beijing–Zhengzhou section was opened in December 2012. The 36-kilometre (22 mi) cross-border Shenzhen–Hong Kong section is expected to open in the third quarter of 2018.^[8] The line is the world's longest high-speed rail route.^[9] The high speed rail line cuts travel time by more than half.^[9]

Through-services with other high-speed lines

Besides trains running between Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the railway also has direct service with other connecting high-speed lines. The direct Xi'an–Zhengzhou–Wuhan–Guangzhou–Shenzhen service started simultaneously with the opening of the Zhengzhou–Wuhan section in September 2012, as well as the direct interline service Xi'an-Zhengzhou–Beijing, Taiyuan–Shijiazhuang–Guangzhou, Taiyuan–Shijiazhuang–Wuhan–Guangzhou.^[10][11] Future connections will include Fujian province destinations and possibly Hangzhou with testing of the Hangzhou–Fuzhou–Shenzhen High-Speed Railway commencing and soon to open.

Connections to local transport

To minimize disruptions to existing urban areas and provide large curve radii, the Beijing–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway, similar to other such railways in China, was constructed in an alignment somewhat different from the existing Beijing–Guangzhou Railway. In most cities served by the high-speed railway, its trains stop at stations built specifically for the new line, which are away from the urban core and the city's conventional railway station. In some of the larger cities, it may take more than an hour to ride a bus or taxi from the city centre to the high-speed rail station.^[12]

Most of the cities involved have improved the public transit access to the new high-speed rail stations, or plan to do so. Guangzhounan Station is already served by Guangzhou Metro and Beijingxi Station served by Beijing Metro. Wuhan Station is served by Wuhan Metro's Line 4, which opened in December 2013. Zhengzhoudong Station will be served by the future Zhengzhou Metro, and Shijiazhuang Station, by the future Shijiazhuang Metro.

Transfers to other rail lines

Guangzhounan Station and Wuhan Station are designed as hubs for several high-speed railway (HSR) lines. Frequent service to Zhuhai is available at Guangzhou South, while a connection to Yichang can be made at Wuhan.

Although the Beijing–Guangzhou HSR largely parallels the older conventional Beijing–Guangzhou line, most of the HSR stations are located away from the local conventional train stations. Therefore, direct transfer to conventional (not high-speed) trains is possible only at a few stations along the route. Among them are Beijingxi (which is one of the nation's main passenger railway hubs), Shijiazhuang, Wuhan (which has a few conventional trains, although fewer than the city's two other stations, at Hankou and Wuchang), and Guangzhoubei.

Immigration clearance

As Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong portion of the high speed rail will pass through an immigration control point, and as of early 2013, the details of how immigration control will work have not been finalized. Although the West Kowloon Terminus is designed to allow both Mainland and Hong Kong officials to conduct immigration control in Hong Kong,^[13] there is a constitutional issue as Mainland officials do not have the constitutional authority to enforce Mainland law in Hong Kong.^[14][15]

Sections

Operational lines in the table below are marked with green background.

Section	Description	Designed speed (km/h)	Length (km)	Construction start date	Open date	Top trip speed
Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong High-Speed Railway	Main north-south high speed rail corridor through North and Central China, consisting of four segments between Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.	200–350	2230	2005-09-01	2018	See below
Beijing–Shijiazhuang Section (Beijing–Shijiazhuang High-Speed Railway)	HSR from Beijingxi (further: Fengtai) to Shijiazhuang	350	281	2008-10-08	2012-12-26[16]	-
Shijiazhuang–Wuhan Section (Shijiazhuang–Wuhan High-Speed Railway)	HSR from Shijiazhuang to Wuhan via Zhengzhoudong	350	838	2008-10-15	2012-09-28 (ZZD–WH) 2012-12-26 (SJZ–ZZD)	-
Wuhan–Guangzhou Section (Wuhan–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway)	HSR from Wuhan to Guangzhounan via Changshanan	350	968	2005-09-01	2009-12-26	313[17]
Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Section Mainland Portion (Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link)	HSR from Guangzhounan to Futian via Shenzhenbei	350 (GZN–SZB) 200 (SZB–FT)	106	2005-12-18	2011-12-26 (GZN–SZB) 2014-07[18] (SZB–FT)	308
Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Section -Hong Kong Portion- (Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link)	HSR from Futian to West Kowloon	200	36 (26 km in Hong Kong)	2010-01-27	2018

Station list

Major railway stations are in bold.

References

External links

Media related to Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong High-Speed Railway at Wikimedia Commons