Mayor Chen Jianhua was in attendance at Jinshazhou yesterday as Guangzhou launched trial operations of eight new lines in its ferry transport system, a system known locally as the “sea bus”, Xinkuaibao reports. Chen said he hopes Guangzhou will become the ferry capital of the world and this will take the pressure off the other transportation systems in the city.

A hovercraft takes off from Jinshazhou, image courtesy of Nanfang Daily

The new lines are as follows:

S1 Red line: Jinshazhou – Shiweitang – Huangsha – Xidi (50 mins)

S2 Blue line: Fangcun – Xidi – Tianzi – Sun Yat-sen Memorial Museum – Sun Yat-sen University

S3 Green line: Ruyifang – Tanwei – Shiweitang

S4 Purple line: Xidi – Aozhou – Haichuang

S5 Yellow line: Yuzhu – Huangpu Military Academy – Xinzhou – Shenjing

S6 Brown line: Huangsha – Fangcun – Yongxing Street

S11 Dark green line: Huangsha – Sun Yat-sen Memorial Museum – Canton Tower

S12 Dark red line: Changzhou – Yuzhu – Haixinsha

At this stage, the times and frequency of the services vary so passengers need to check the timetables on the day. On the dark green line, seats in the cabin with no air conditioning cost 1 yuan. The most expensive ferry tickets cost 10 yuan.

Ticket prices on existing services will remain unchanged.