On July 1st, Foshan Station on the Guangzhou–Zhanjiang High-Speed Railway (Guang-Zhan HSR) officially began operations. The station has a total construction area of 294,000 square meters, with a 50,000-square-meter station building. Featuring four platforms and nine tracks (including a reserved platform and two tracks), the station is designed to handle a crowd of up to 2,500 people at a time. In the initial phase, the station is expected to serve approximately 4.6 million passengers annually, with long-term capacity reaching 6 million passengers.

For a long time, Foshan has faced transport bottlenecks in accessing regions to the north and east of China. Residents in central urban areas such as Chancheng and Guicheng previously had to rely on normal trains or transfer at major hubs such as Guangzhou South Railway Station when traveling to the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region or the Yangtze River Delta. The key highlight of the new Foshan Station is that high-speed rail service now directly enters the city's central urban area.

Located in central Chancheng District, the station now handles 98 train services in total, including 35 originating or terminating services and 63 stopping services. This significantly increases high-speed rail frequency to destinations in western Guangdong such as Zhanjiang North Railway Station, as well as eastern Guangdong cities including Meizhou West Railway Station and Shantou Railway Station. The fastest journey to Guangzhou now takes just 18 minutes, while Zhanjiang is reachable in 1.5 hours. Direct services also extend to Changsha and Wuhan, substantially broadening travel options for residents.

The Guang-Zhan HSR is a key artery of China's "eight vertical and eight horizontal" railway network. Foshan Station will interconnect with nine 350 km/h high-speed rail lines (or sections), greatly enhancing its regional reach. In the future, it is expected to further connect southwest routes, linking to the under‑construction Shenzhen–Nanning High-speed Railway for access to Nanning, and extending southward via the Zhanhai High-speed Railway to directly access the Hainan Free Trade Port. This will further integrate Foshan into China's national railway network and the Greater Bay Area intercity rail network.

广湛高铁佛山站启用，广佛中心城区18分钟可达

7月1日，广湛高铁佛山站正式开通运营。佛山站总建筑规模29.4万平方米，站房面积5万平方米，站场规模4台9线（含预留1台2线），最高聚集人数2500人，预计初期年发送旅客约460万人次，远期可达600万人次。

长期以来，佛山“北上”“东进”都受到交通瓶颈的制约。禅城、桂城等中心城区居民若想前往京津冀或长三角区域，只能搭乘普速列车或到广州南站等枢纽换乘。广湛高铁佛山站最大的亮点，就是高铁“进入中心城区”。

佛山站地处禅城中心城区，投用后始发终到列车35趟，经停列车63趟，合计开行98趟，大幅加密粤西湛江北，粤东梅州西、汕头等方向通达班次，最快18分钟直达广州、1.5小时疾驰湛江，并直达长沙、武汉，切实丰富市民铁路出行选择。

广湛高铁是国家“八纵八横”高铁网的关键骨干线路，佛山站将与九条（段）时速350公里的高铁线路连通，辐射能力大幅增强。未来可进一步打通西南方向，链接深南高铁（在建）去南宁，南连湛海高铁直达海南自贸区，深度嵌入全国铁路网与大湾区轨道体系。

文丨记者 严锦程 詹淑真 黄松炜 张嘉培 李婷婷 通讯员 蔡震
翻译丨魏薇
审校丨曾敏