New railways set to make Shanghai further connected
Traveling to Disneyland by train will not be just a dream for tourists who live outside of Shanghai, as more and more inter-city railway projects, which make Shanghai a key point, are in full swing.
Shanghai East Railway Station, which is planning to be built near Shanghai Pudong International Airport, will be close to Shanghai Disneyland Resort.
The station will also connect to another transportation hub, Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, by an in-city railway line, which will run through the Pudong New Area, Xuhui and Minhang districts. Disneyland will be a stop on the line.
The Shanghai East Railway Station is an important part of the second phase of Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong railway.
Apart from the east station, a new large station on the west side, Shanghai Songjiang South Railway Station, is also under renovation.
Songjiang South Railway Station will soon transform into a railway hub from the current suburban station after serving to aid China's decade-long national strategy for integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region.
The upgraded station will have expanded passenger-carrying capacity with an increased number of platforms to nine and rail lines to 23.
And it is also included in the blueprint of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou railway line, which is expected to become an important channel connecting key cities in the Yangtze River Delta, along with other three railways – the Shanghai-Hangzhou, Nanning-Hangzhou and Huzhou-Hangzhou railways.
In the north of Shanghai, residents of Chongming District can expect to travel by train from the island in the near future because a new high-speed railway will pass through the district, according to the China Railway Shanghai Group.
Chongming District will open its first station when railway construction is finished.
The Shanghai section of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou Railway is under construction.
Running along the Yangtze River and connecting 16 stations in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hefei section of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Sichuan high-speed railway was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission late last November.
The two-way high-speed railway will begin from the newly-built Baoshan Station in north Shanghai's Baoshan District, then pass through Chongming Station on Chongming Island, and end at Hefei South Station in Anhui.
There are a total of seven railway stations in Shanghai – three large stations (Shanghai Station, Shanghai Hongqiao Station and Shanghai South Station) and four smaller ones (Shanghai West Station, Nanxiang North Station, Anting West Station and Anting North Station).
Only high-speed trains can pass through, depart and arrive at Hongqiao Station, while all trains can leave, arrive and pass through the other two large stations with most heading north from Shanghai Station, and heading south from Shanghai South Station, according to railway officials.
The four small stations only serve to pick up passengers on some intercity lines.
A bullet train runs on the high-speed railway in the Yangtze River Delta.
