A view of the high-speed railway (HSR) connecting southern China's Guangzhou with the coastal city of Zhanjiang in Guangdong in December. Photo: Screenshot of CCTV news

The high-speed railway (HSR) connecting Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province with the coastal city of Zhanjiang, was put into operation on Monday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The line significantly shortens the distance between the Beibu Gulf city clusters and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), while providing strong support for high-quality economic and social development in surrounding regions.

At 10:30 am on Monday, train G-9785 departed from Guangzhou Baiyun Station, while train G9786 left Zhanjiang North Station at the same time. After 1 hour and 32 minutes, the two high-speed trains arrived at their destinations, marking the official opening and operation of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang HSR, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

The Guangzhou-Zhanjiang HSR is 401 kilometers long and is designed for a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour. 

The fastest travel time from Guangzhou to Zhanjiang has been reduced to only 1 hour and 32 minutes, which is 61 minutes shorter than the previous Guangzhou-Jiangmen-Zhanjiang route, the CCTV report noted.

The Guangzhou-Zhanjiang HSR connects the cities of Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Yunfu, Yangjiang, Maoming, and Zhanjiang, according to the Xinhua report. The operation of the new HSR also ends the era when three cities - Yangjiang, Maoming, and Zhanjiang - lacked access to an HSR with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. This also marks a solid step forward for Guangdong Province toward the goal of "having a 350 kilometer per hour HSR connecting every city," another Xinhua report noted. 

The new line has optimized the regional railway transportation landscape. The HSR efficiently diverts passenger flow from existing channels, or the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway, which had been under enormous passenger pressure. This systematically alleviates regional traffic pressure and enhances the overall transportation efficiency of the railway network, the CCTV report noted.

It also allows western Guangdong Province to gain smoother access to the national high-speed railway network, achieving efficient inter-connectivity with major cities in the GBA, as well as other economic powerhouses such as the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Chinese analysts said.

This step opens a high-speed gateway for western Guangdong to undertake industrial spillover from the GBA and receive innovation radiation, while helping the GBA to expand its strategic hinterland and growth space, they noted.

Global Times