Shenzhen–Zhanjiang high-speed railway


The Shenzhen–Zhanjiang railway is a high-speed railway across the south of Guangdong province. Linking the cities of Shenzhen and Zhanjiang, it will also allow for future high speed train travel between Hong Kong and Hainan Island.

History

Announced as part of the 12th Five Year Plan for 2011–2016, it was projected that construction of this railway would begin. Tenders were called for early in 2013 with construction to begin before the end of that year. Construction officially began on 28 June 2014. The railway of Jiangmen–Maoming section is entered to operation on July 1, 2018.

Route

The railway is to follow a route from Shenzhen North railway station to Maoming East railway station. The existing Xinhui branch of the Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway will be included as a central link, with of new trackage extending west to Maoming and then a new tunnel across the Pearl River Delta from Shenzhen south of the Humen Bridge.
Starting at Shenzhen North, the railway will travel through a tunnel to Airport North at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. It will then cross through a tunnel underneath the Pearl River before reaching Xiaolan, Guzhen, Waihai, Jiangmen South, Shuangshui, Taishan, Kaiping, Enping, Dahuai, Heshan, Yangjiang, Yangxi, Mata, Guanzhu,Dianbai and Maoming East.

Construction

The Maoming–Zhanjiang section was constructed between 2009 and 2013. Although officially opened on December 28, 2013, no high-speed trains started using it at the time.
Construction of the 387-km Shenzhen–Maoming railway was carried out in two phases: the Jiangmen–Maoming section and the Shenzhen–Jiangmen section. Phase one from Jiangmen to Maoming started in June 2014 and was opened on July 1, 2018.
From this point on, thru high-speed service started along the Guangzhou–Jiangmen–Maoming–Zhanjiang route.
A special feature of Phase 1 is a 2,036-meter steel tunnel protecting the Birds' Paradise from the noise of the high speed line. The noise barrier reduces the noise of the train to about 50 dB SPL at the bird park, which is only 800 meters away from the high-speed line.
Phase two from Shenzhen to Jiangmen was delayed due to the complicated geographic condition of the mouth of the Pearl River and the large budget, 65.2 billion yuan. Construction of phase two is expected to begin 2018.