Nansha-Zhongshan-Zhuhai MRT steps toward reality
The 79-kilometer Nansha-Zhongshan-Zhuhai Intercity MRT, costing 48.6 billion yuan (US$7 billion), is among 13 rail lines listed in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Intercity MRT Construction Plan to come under construction soon, Zhuhai’s official website revealed recently.
According to the released information, the overall MRT construction plan, which has recently approved by the National Development & Reform Commission, calls for new rail lines with a combined length of 775 kilometers. Travel time between major Greater Bay Area cities will be brought down to one hour.
It will take no more than two hours to travel between a major GBA city and other prefecture cities in Guangdong. And it will take three hours or so to go from major GBA cities to the capital city of a neighboring province or autonomous region.
A blue print of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Intercity MRT Construction Plan
For the Nansha-Zhongshan-Zhuhai line, the plan also proposes five hub projects to realize connectivity between intercity MRTs, high-speed railways, and truck rail lines as well as transfer between them and urban rail transit.
Zhuhai Hezhou Railway Station, Jiangmen and Zhongshan North are hubs on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary. They will be supplemented by Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Pengjiang (Jiangmen) and Hengqin stations.
Zhuhai Hezhou Railway Station will handle inter-regional and intercity trains. It will connect to the Guangzhou-Zhuhai (Macau) and Zhuhai-Zhaoqing high-speed railways in the near term.
Responsible for intercity transport, Zhuhai Railway Station in Gongbei will soon connect to Guangzhou-Zhuhai and Nansha-Zhongshan-Zhuhai Intercity MRTs, Zhuhai Airport Urban Rail Transit and Macau Light Rail Transit.
MRTs will also be linked to Macau Light Rail Transit at Hengqin Railway Station to integrate Macau into the national railway network, high-speed railways and intercity trains.
The Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity MRT will access the New Guangdong-Macau Channel (Qingmao Checkpoint) via Zhuhai Railway Station.
According to the plan, a 4,700-kilometer railway network in the Greater Bay Area will take form by 2025, covering major cities in the region.
