New Guangzhou-Shenzhen XRL express railway gets up to speed
Three weeks after its opening, and the new high speed railway linking Guangzhou to Shenzhen is proving a hit with passengers. Its real first test will come over the Chinese New Year (23 January 2012) as thousands of Chinese use it to shorten their journey home.
“We love it!” was one comment made to ABD’s reporter in Shenzhen North station. The fares were particularly popular with travelers, especially since the economy fare of RMB75 (USD 12) is lower than the slower train that runs on the old railway. A first class ticket costs RMB100 (USD 16).
The rail link is the first section of the Guangzhou – Shenzhen – Hong Kong high speed railway to open. The railway is being called the XRL, the ‘eXpress Rail Link’. The first train set off from Shenzhen North Railway Station on 26 December and the number of services has been increasing steadily since then as the railway company beds down its operation. The trains are initially been run at 300 km/h making the journey just 35 minutes, but the speed will be increased to 380 km/h and cut the journey by another 5 minutes when engineers give the green light.
The 141km journey between Shenzhen and Guangdong used to take 65 minutes on the old railway.
The high speed railway will revolutionise travel in the highly urban area of south Guangdong province which borders Hong Kong.
The USD 680 million Shenzhen North station is still under construction and will eventually serve as an interchange between the XRL, the Xiamen-Shenzhen rail line and two Shenzhen Metro lines (4 and 5).
Other cities along the route will also benefit. Dongguan, a manufacturing city that has become a focus for the automotive sector has a new station at Humen.
Passengers arriving at Guangzhou can change express trains for Wuhan in Central China another 3 hours and 33 minutes away, and travel onwards to Shanghai and Beijing. Eventually Hong Kong will link to Shanghai directly in around 6 hours, and Beijing in 8 hours.
The 26km Hong Kong section of the XRL is currently under construction but given the terrain – highly urban or mountainous – most of it will be underground and so progress is inevitably slower. Construction of the Hong Kong section, which terminates in West Kowloon, is the responsibility of the MTR, the company that operates the popular Hong Kong Airport Express. Leading international construction firms such as Leighton (ASX:LEI), Laing O’Rourke (LSE:LOR) and Soletanche-Bachy have been awarded the construction contracts.
