Photo: Screenshot of CCTV News

With a trial high-speed train departing from Guangzhou Baiyun Station for Zhanjiang North Station, South China's Guangdong Province, the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-Speed Railway officially entered its testing phase on Wednesday. Once operational, the project will significantly enhance connectivity among the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), the Hainan Free Trade Port, and the Beibu Gulf city cluster, CCTV News reported

The Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-Speed Railway is a key component of China's coastal passenger corridor within the greater high-speed rail artery network, which consists of eight vertical lines and eight horizontal lines. The main line stretches 401 kilometers and is designed for a maximum operating speed of 350 kilometers per hour, running through Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Yunfu, Yangjiang, Maoming, and Zhanjiang.

Construction has been highly challenging due to the complex terrain and geological conditions along the route. The bridge-tunnel ratio reaches 76.8 percent, including 190 bridges and 50 tunnels along the main line, according to a social media post by the Zhanjiang government. 

The line is scheduled to open by the end of this year. The line will reduce the travel time between Guangzhou and Zhanjiang to as little as 90 minutes. It will also improve travel conditions for local residents, substantially increase corridor capacity, accelerate the formation of a high-speed rail link between the GBA and western Guangdong, support the alignment of major national strategies, and promote coordinated regional development, according to CCTV News.

The GBA intercity railway development plan was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in July 2020, aiming to enhance the quality of intercity transport services and support the region's overall development.

According to the plan, the GBA rail network—both operational and under construction—will reach 4,700 kilometers this year, fully covering core cities, key nodes, and major metropolitan areas such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen. By 2035, the total is expected to reach 5,700 kilometers, covering all county-level cities.

On May 26, 2024, two of four sections of railway in the GBA were put into operation, marking the opening of the longest intercity railway route in the area. The line, linking cities including Huizhou, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Foshan, and Zhaoqing from the east to the west, is 258 kilometers long with a total of 39 stops for ordinary trains. Fast trains only stop at 14 of them, Xinhua News Agency reported. 

During the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush, the four lines handled a total of 2.7418 million passengers. In 2024, the four interconnected intercity railways carried 18.187 million passengers in total, with average daily ridership increasing by 209.7 percent compared with the period before the Foshan-Zhaoqing and Dongguan-Huizhou lines were connected, said the National Railway Administration. 

Global Times