As 2023 draws to a close, the high-speed railway mileage of Guangdong Province has once again hit new heights. On December 26th, the section from Shantou South to Shanwei of the Shantou-Shanwei High-speed Railway officially commenced operations, adding a new major transportation route to the eastern part of Guangdong.

Aerial view of Shantou South Station (Photo by Cai Jiahong from Yangcheng Evening News)

The travel time from Shantou South to Shanwei, Guangzhou East, and Shenzhen North stations is now reduced to a minimum of 36 minutes, 113 minutes, and 109 minutes, respectively. However, the significance of the Shantou-Shanwei High-speed Railway goes beyond that. Its inauguration has propelled Guangdong to become the first province in China with a high-speed railway mileage exceeding 3,000 kilometers.

Data indicates that by the end of 2022, Guangdong had operated a total of 2,788 kilometers of high-speed railway lines with speeds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour.

In 2023, Guangdong opened two new high-speed railway lines. The first was the Guangzhou-Shanwei High-Speed Railway, which commenced operations on September 26th, covering a total length of 200 kilometers. The second was the Shantou-Shanwei High-speed Railway, which opened on December 26th, spanning a total length of 142 kilometers. Based on these additions, the total mileage of high-speed railway lines in Guangdong has now reached 3,130 kilometers, surpassing the 3,000-kilometer threshold ahead of any other province in China. This leads to a clear advantage of 323 kilometers over Shandong, which currently ranks second in terms of total high-speed railway mileage with 2,807 kilometers.

In recent years, railway construction in Guangdong has been in rapid development. With the opening of the Ganzhou-Shenzhen High-Speed Railway on December 10th, 2021, Guangdong achieved the goal of "connecting every city with high-speed railway". Currently, Guangdong is vigorously advancing the construction of major railway corridors such as the Meizhou-Longchuan High-Speed Railway, Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-Speed Railway, and Shenzhen-Jiangmen High-Speed Railway, bravely forging ahead towards the goal of "connecting every city with high-speed railway of 350 kilometers per hour". It can be foreseen that the extensive railway network will continue to expand across the land of southern Guangdong.

Furthermore, Guangdong recently released a development plan for the construction of five urban clusters, emphasizing the requirement for mutual interaction and integrated development among cities within and outside each urban cluster. The establishment of a dense transportation network, including railways, serves as the foundation and prerequisite for achieving this interconnected objective.

Fuxing bullet train of the Shantou-Shanwei High-speed Railway (Photo by Cai Jiahong from Yangcheng Evening News)

The development of the "GBA on the Rail" is transitioning from a blueprint to reality. It is projected that by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2025), the railway mileage in Guangdong will reach 6,350 kilometers, representing an increase of 1,480 kilometers or 30.3% compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). Among them, the high-speed railway mileage will reach 3,380 kilometers, accounting for 53.2% of Guangdong's total railway mileage. By then, Guangdong will have established a high-speed railway network that enables travel from Guangzhou to various cities in the Pearl River Delta within one hour, to other prefectural-level cities within two hours, to neighboring provincial capitals within three hours, and to major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta, as well as southwestern cities in China within six to eight hours.

Source:Yangcheng Evening News

广东成全国首个高铁里程迈过3000公里的省份

在2023年即将结束之际，广东高铁里程数再次刷新。12月26日，汕头至汕尾高铁（以下简称“汕汕高铁”）汕头南至汕尾段正式开通运营，粤东地区由此新增一条客运大通道，汕头南至汕尾、广州东、深圳北站间最快分别36分钟、113分钟、109分钟可达。但汕汕高铁的意义远不止如此，它的开通，还让广东一跃成为全国首个高铁里程迈过3000公里的省份。

数据显示，截至2022年底，广东200km/h以上标准高快速铁路运营里程达到2788公里。

在2023年，广东新开通两条高铁，分别是9月26日开通的广汕高铁（全长200公里）和12月26日开通的汕汕高铁汕尾至汕头南段（全长142公里）。据此计算，广东高铁运营总里程已达3130公里，在全国率先跨过3000公里台阶，比目前高铁运营总里程排名第二的山东（2807公里）要多出323公里，领先优势可谓明显。

近几年，广东的铁路建设不断提速：2021年12月10日，赣深高铁的开通，让广东实现了“市市通高铁”的目标；目前，广东正全力推进梅龙高铁、广湛高铁、深江高铁等铁路大通道的建设，朝着“市市通350高铁”目标奋勇前行。可预见的是，四通八达的铁路交通线将在南粤大地越织越密。

此外，广东近日发布建设五个都市圈的发展规划，提出了都市圈内城市以及与其他都市圈之间相互联动、融合发展的要求，而织密铁路等交通网则是实现联动目标的基础和前提。

“轨道上的大湾区”正从蓝图变为现实。预计到“十四五”末，广东铁路里程达到6350公里，较“十三五”末增加1480公里、增长30.3%，其中高速铁路达到3380公里、占广东铁路的53.2%。届时，广东省将建成广州与珠三角地区各城市1小时通达、与省内其他地级城市2小时内通达，与邻近省会城市3小时内通达，与京津冀、长三角地区和西南主要城市6-8小时通达的高速铁路网络。

文｜记者 李志文 董鹏程 胡彦
译｜陈萱