At the Jiangbei section of Huibo Avenue, construction workers were busy with the continuous girder construction for the Jiantan Dongjiang Grand Bridge. When completed, Ganshen (Jiangxi-Shenzhen) High-speed Railway and Guangshan (Guangzhou-Shanwei) Railway will travel side-by-side at this section. At the Shiwan Town of Boluo County, the main body for the Kuayongshi Grand Bridge will soon be completed.
With the opening of a new high-speed railway, cities along the line will see a booming development in their economies. Due to regional economic integration, rail transportation, especially high-speed railway, are particularly effective in boosting regional economic development.
Transportation infrastructure is vital to a city’s economic development and regional competitive edge. Huizhou is now accelerating the development of South Railway Station New Town (the southern railway station for the Xiashen Railway), which will be transformed into a new business card for the Huiyang District. In addition, Huizhou will transform Huizhou North Station into a comprehensive transportation hub and a new business district. With the construction plans for Guanghe (Guanghzou-Heyuan) High-speed Railway and Shenshan (Shenzhen-Shanwei) High-speed Railway being finalized, Huizhou will have 5 high-speed railways running through the city in the future, facilitating the city to be better connected with the Greater Bay Area and realize high-quality development.
Present situation: the constructions for Ganshen High-speed Railway and Guangshan Railway are well underway
In our visit to the construction site of Jiangbei section of Ganshen High-speed Railway, the construction for the Jiantan Dongjiang Grand Bridge was well underway.
As an important line in the national “eight vertical and eight horizontal” high-speed railway network, Ganshen High-speed Railwal, with a designed speed of 250 kilometers per hour, is a major traffic line connecting Jiangxi with PRD region. The line will have three stops in Huizhou, namely Boluo North Station, Huizhou North Station and Zhongkai New District Station. The line is expected to be operational in 2021, shortening the travel time between Ganzhou and Shenzhen to merely 2 hours; and Huizhou residents can reach Shenzhen North Station in less than 30 minutes when taking a ride at Huizhou North Station.
The construction for the Kuayongshi Grand Bridge for the Guangshan Railway at the Shiwan Town of Boluo County is also well underway. According to its construction manager, they are now working on the 10th section of the concrete pouring project and it is estimated that the bridge closure will take place in the middle of July. The construction for the Jianshanji Tunnel, requiring the digging of 26 meters at its entrance and 270 meters at its exit, will be put into use in October next year; and the early-stage bridge project will be operational by the end of this year.
With a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, Guangshan Railway starts from Xintang of Guangzhou, travels across Huizhou and finally reaches Shanwei, with the newly built railway length reaching 206.2 kilometers. It will have 4 stops in Huizhou, namely Luofu Mountain, Boluo, Huicheng South and Huidong South. The Luofu Mountain station is located in the east of Changning Town, Boluo station at Luoyang street, Huicheng South at the north of Sandong Town and Huidong South at the south of Huidong County.
Guangshan Railway is a vital line in the national 13th Five-year Plan, as well as a core line in the Guangdong provincial “5-vertical and two-horizontal” railway network. With a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, Guangshan Railway will cut the travel time between Guangzhou and Huizhou to half hour only; while at the time being, the travel time between Guangzhou and Huizhou, or between Huizhou and Shanwei is about 2 hours.
Planning: Guanghe High-speed Railway and Shenshan High-speed Railway are expected to run through Huizhou
Apart from these two under-construction railways, it is very likely that two more high-speed railways, namely Shenshan High-speed Railway and Guanghe High-speed Railway, will run through Huizhou in the near future.
Guangdong Development and Reform Commission recently included Shenshan (Shenzhen-Shanwei) Railway into its Guangdong Province 2019 Key Construction Pre-construction Projects Plan. With a length of 126 kilometers and a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the Shenzhen-Shanwei Railway will have an estimated investment volume of 38 billion yuan. In line with the initial construction plan, Shenshan High-speed Railway will travel on a parallel manner with the existing Xiashen (Xiamen-Shenzhen） Railway in Shenzhen, travel through Xili Station in Shenzhen, Pingshan and Huizhou to the eastern direction, and finally reach Shenshan Station at the Shenzhen-Shantou Cooperation Zone.
As of now, Shenshan High-speed Railway has been officially included in General Planning of Railway Construction in Guangdong Province, Shenzhen Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources is now working on its details. The finalized plan will be submitted to the National Development and Reform Commission, so as to kick off the actual construction as soon as possible.
Shenshan High-speed Railway not only connects Shenzhen with Shenzhen-Shantou Cooperation Zone, but also extends eastward, joining the national coastal high-speed railway network. In other words, there is a new high-speed railway linking Shenzhen with eastern Guangdong, Fujian and eastern China region, which will greatly ease the east-bound railway traffic pressure in the PRD region.
According to Lin Jiang, professor from Lingnan College of Sun Yat-sen University and deputy director of Hong Kong-Macao-PRD Research Institute, Huizhou has an excellent location advantage, as the city is located in the middle of Shenzhen and Shenzhen-Shantou Cooperation Zone, and the construction of this high-speed railway will enable Huizhou to play a better “middleman” role and give full play to its status as a regional hub.
Besides this new fast-speed traffic line connecting with Shenzhen, Guanghe High-speed Railway was also newly included in the Guangdong Province 2019 Key Construction Pre-construction Projects Plan. In line with the plan, the railway, with a length of 182 kilometers, will have an estimated investment volume of 42.3 billion yuan.
In line with the information released by last year feasibility study of Guanghe High-speed Railway, this railway will start from Guangzhou North, travel through Longmen of Huizhou and finally reach Heyuan East station, connecting Ganshen Railway, with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The original plan will have 6 stops in total, namely Guangzhou North, Baiyun Airport T3, Conghua, Yonghan, Longmen and Heyuan East, including 2 stations in Huizhou.
When the construction plan of Guanghe High-speed Railway is approved, Huizhou will then have 5 high-speed railways, with the number of high-speed railway stations exceeding 10 and enabling Longmen country to bid farewell to a period of time when it had no direct access to any high-speed railway.
According to Professor Chen Hongyu, then vice president of Party School of Guangdong Provincial Committee of CPC, “It is a common trend among all world-class bay areas, that all of them have given full play to their location advantage, especially their transportation connectivity advantage”. Professor Chen also urged that Huizhou should seize the rare development opportunity created by high-speed railways and other transportation connectivity projects and accelerate the integration with Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other cities.
Highlight: Huizhou North Station to become a comprehensive transportation hub in the city
On April 18 this year, Huizhou Public Resource Trading Center unveiled the feasibility report for the Huizhou North Station, indicating clearly that this station would be transformed into a regional transportation hub incorporating the functions of high-speed railway, metro and bus services.
It is estimated that this project would have a total investment of 3.27 billion yuan, including 2.56 billion yuan to be spent on civil and erection cost. The project will involve the construction of a bus terminal, a long-distance coach terminal and a tourism bus parking lot as well as elevated drop-off ramps.
Relevant planning work for the direct access of Dongguan-Huizhou Inter-city Railway within Huizhou North Station is well under way. By implementing the Plan for Revitalizing and Developing the Old Revolutionary Base Areas of Hailufeng (2018-2025), Huizhou has sped up the construction for the railway section between Xiaojinkou Station and Huizhou North Station; in addition, the city has carried out initial studies on the construction of an extension line of Dongguan-Huizhou Inter-city Railway.
According to Huizhou Natural Resources Bureau, Huizhou North will become the largest newly built station along Ganshen High-speed Railway, with direct access to multiple traffic lines operated by various transportation means. When completed, Huizhou North Station will become a comprehensive regional transportation hub and an important portal for Huizhou in the future, enabling local residents to reach Shenzhen and Guangzhou at a much reduced travel time.
Efforts to be made to upgrade Huiyang-Daya Bay Railway
On April 26 Huizhou held an expert consultation meeting, inviting 7 leading experts to discuss extensively on the railway network planning within Huizhou and the upgrade plan for the existing Huiyang-Daya Bay Railway.
It was widely believed by these experts that Huicheng-Huiyang-Daya Bay corridor will become a main axis for the spatial development of Huizhou, and it is likely that this main axis will have a rising passenger flow. In addition, Huizhou’s city center and its sub-center has a distance of 50 kilometers, however there are few railways connecting these centers. It is therefore of great significance for Huizhou to prioritize the construction of an efficient and concentrated rail system in its ambitious urban railway network plan.
With a total length of 52 kilometers, this new railway will be classified as a SI line, connecting Huizhou West Station, Daya Bay and Huicheng South Station; the section between Huihuan Station of Dongguan-Huizhou City Light Rail and Daya Bay will be an upgraded one along the existing Huiyang-Daya Bay Railway.
Authoritative conclusion: to accelerate integration with Greater Bay Area city clusters through transportation infrastructure development
According to an official from Huizhou Natural Resources Bureau, “It is important for Huizhou to connect with other city clusters in the Greater Bay Area and enhance its hinterland influence through high-speed railways, inter-city railways, highways and other transportation connectivity projects.” In the near future, Huizhou will speed up the transportation connectivity projects and keep enhancing its transportation hub service scope. Some of these key projects are Ganshen High-speed Railway, Guangshan High-speed Railway, Shenshan High-speed Railway, Shenzhen-Huizhou Inter-city Railway, extension line of Dongguan-Huizhou Inter-city Railway and Huizhou section of Shenzhen Metro Line 14.
From a long-term development perspective, Huizhou will build a well-connected high-speed railway network, including Shenzhen-Huicheng South high-speed railway and Huicheng South station of Guangshan High-speed Railway, facilitating the increasing business trips among Shenzhen, Huizhou and Shanwei and enhancing the power of influence of Huicheng South Station. In addition, efforts will be made to incorporate Huizhou into the next round of high-speed inter-city railway development initiative among Greater Bay Area, so as to realize the through traffic among core zone in Dongguan and Shenzhen, Huicheng South Station and Huizhou Airport.
