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Shenzhen to Xiamen high-speed rail ticket prices announced

Posted: 08/16/2013 11:37 am

We told you earlier this year that the next leg of the nation’s high-speed rail network is set to open, connecting Shenzhen with the scenic port city of Xiamen.

The original plan was to have the three-hour journey open in September this year, but it appears that’s been pushed back a few months.  Most of the track has been laid, and testing and commissioning is expected to be complete by the end of this year. Passenger operations will begin early next year.

Xiamen will only be 3 hours away

The ticket prices have also finally been revealed: it will cost RMB160 for a second-class trip between Shenzhen and Xiamen, and RMB190 for a first-class ticket.

It currently takes 14 hours by train to travel to Xiamen, so this will save a lot of time. It will also probably take another bite out of struggling airline companies.

(Image: Carelong.cn)

Haohao
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Shenzhen tackles crowding on the metro, will launch extra trains on the Luobao Line

Posted: 04/17/2013 7:00 am

Good news for people who regularly pile onto the metro in Shenzhen.

Trains will be added between Luohu and Xixiang metro stations on Shenzhen’s Luobao line to reduce overcrowding during morning and evening rush hours, The Daily Sunshine reports.

The new measure will be piloted on April 20 and, if all goes to plan, fully implemented on Thursday April 25.

The Luobao line is the oldest on Shenzhen’s metro system and runs from Luohu, the border with Hong Kong and the city’s busiest train station, to Airport East.

Haohao
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Shenzhen metro to introduce in-train Wi-fi in June

Posted: 04/4/2013 1:00 pm

The Shenzhen Metro will soon be offering high-speed internet to passengers via wi-fi installed in stations and trains. The system will be rolled out in June, according to the Kuang Chi Institute of Advanced Technology, Bendibao reports.

The speed of the network will be two to four times faster than traditional networks, which will still be exceedingly slow compared with global standards.

The specific date of the introduction of the technology, which is currently being developed by Southern Galaxy Valley Co., will be announced soon.  Li Chunlin, deputy head of the Shenzhen Kuang Chi Institute of Advanced Technology, said this will also solve the problem that was encountered last autumn when several trains were halted due to the interference with the subway’s wifi system.

Haohao
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Shenzhen subway line to add shuttle trains during rush hours

Posted: 01/18/2013 7:00 am

Shenzhen Metro’s Longgang Line (Line 3), which has received numerous complaints due to being too crowded, will see shuttle trains added at its busiest section during rush hours Monday to Friday starting Jan. 21, SZOnline reports.

During rush hours, scenes on the subway are similar to the one in this picture, taken from Baidu Images.

The shuttle trains will run between Tangkeng and Huaxin, where 62.8% of passenger flow is concentrated along the line.

From 7:15-9:15 a.m. and from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. trains will come every 3.5 minutes instead of the current 5 minutes on the line that runs between Yitian and Shuanglong.

Netizens have reacted positively to the news. Since the subway system was rapidly expanded ahead of the 2011 Summer Universiade, residents have complained on threads such as this that the crowding is considerable. This author can tell you from experience that they’re not exaggerating.

The line connects with the Luobao Line at Laojie and Shopping Park, with the Shekou Line at Futian, with the Longhua Line at Children’s Palace, and with the Huanzhong Line at Buji.

Haohao
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The date is set: Guangzhou-Beijing high-speed rail to open December 26

Posted: 12/14/2012 1:56 pm

Trains will depart from Guangzhou South Station

The China Ministry of Railways announced today the longest high-speed rail line in the world, stretching from Guangzhou all the way to Beijing, is set to open for passenger service on December 26.

So what does that mean? Well, you can now take the train – with leg room, 3G access, and a dining car – to Beijing, or opt for the traditional flight, which will be faster but have none of those other conveniences.  The train will speed along the 2,298-kilometre line at 300 km/hr, getting you to your destination in as little as 8 hours.  By comparison, a flight takes roughly 3 hours.

Bloomberg picks it up from here:

“The service marks a significant milestone of our high- speed rail construction,” the ministry said in the statement. “It will ease pressure on the rail transport between Beijing and Guangzhou, especially during the peak Chinese New Year holiday.”

Guangzhou, China Southern’s home city, is in the Pearl River Delta region, one of the nation’s major manufacturing centers. It’s less than 200 kilometers northwest of Hong Kong.

No prices for the new rail line have been announced yet.  It should be noted those boarding in Shenzhen will also be able to connect through Guangzhou en route to Beijing, which will take an extra 30 minutes or so.

Bloomberg also said if you opt for a flight between the two cities, you’ll have the chance to try out the new Airbus A380s starting next year.

Haohao
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Flame-broiled goodness while you wait for your train in Guangzhou

Posted: 07/31/2012 12:00 pm

I remember Guangzhou East Station before it even had a Starbucks.  Back then, while waiting for your ride to Hong Kong or Shenzhen, you had to make do with the little snack shop selling all kinds of stale and otherwise inedible cracker-like things.

How times have changed.

Guangzhou East now has a Starbucks, McDonald’s, and the venerable Yonghe Dawang (Yonghe King) for hungry people who need to kill time before their train departs.  But there’s an even bigger name moving in: Burger King.

The Nanfang passed through Guangzhou East a few days ago and saw the hoarding up as the staff prepare to open Burger King at the location.  The popular flame-broiled American hamburger chain is expanding faster and faster in the PRD, with several locations now in Shenzhen plus those in Hong Kong.  There are at least two other Burger Kings in Guangzhou as well at Grandview Mall and Tai Koo Hui.

You’ll likely be seeing many more Burger Kings sprout up in the next few years, which will eventually water-down the novelty factor.  The company says it plans to open 1,000 restaurants in China in the next five to seven years.

No word on when the Burger King at Guangzhou East will open, but we expect within the next few weeks.

Haohao
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Shenzhen – Guangzhou high speed rail to open December 28

Posted: 12/14/2011 1:53 pm

We mentioned earlier that the new high-speed rail link connecting Shenzhen and Guangzhou would open before the end of this year, and now a date has been set: December 28.

You won’t have any luck boarding the new trains if you go to Guangzhou East or Luohu Station, however ; the line connects the new Shenzhen North station with Guangzhou’s immaculate (and massive) South station, which also serves as the terminus of the Guangzhou-Wuhan line.

The Shenzhen Daily says in the early stages (which aren’t defined), passengers from Shenzhen to Wuhan will still need to disembark in Guangzhou and get on a separate train, but eventually you’ll be able to travel between Wuhan and Shenzhen seamlessly.  Next year, the line connecting Wuhan to Beijing will open, creating a high speed rail from north to south.

The line between Shenzhen and Guangzhou will stop at Dongchong, Humen, and Gongming stations, so there will be stops on the outskirts of Dongguan.  It would be nice, though, if at some point somebody decided to put a train station in Houjie, or even better, Dongcheng.  It’s capable of traveling 380 km/hr, but will be capped around 300 km/hr, with memories still fresh from Wenzhou.

Alas, we shouldn’t complain: one couldn’t ask for much more than a 25 minute commute between two of China’s great cities.

Also on The Nanfang:

Haohao
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High-speed train allows dinner in Shenzhen, drinks in Guangzhou

Posted: 03/30/2011 9:21 am

For many years, China has been building the world’s fastest and most expansive high-speed railway network. The maiden run linked Beijing with Tianjin, cities that are 147 kilometres apart, in only 29 minutes. (And yes, it’s so smooth there is barely a ripple in your tea as you fly along at 350 kilometres per hour.)

Guangzhou has already been linked with Wuhan under this new high-speed system, and soon Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be connected, cutting travel time from an hour down to only 30 minutes. That’s faster that most people’s commute home after work. And it’s only part of the vast transport network planned for this area, reports the Shenzhen Standard:

The high speed rail that links the Shenzhen Guangzhou and Wuhan and Hong Kong sections will be open on the eve of the Universiade games in August. The section was originally scheduled to open by the end of 2010 when the Shenzhen North Railway Section is completed.

But work on the Shiziyang tunnel was delayed, and was just completed two weeks ago. The tunnel that passes under the Pearl River was about 11 kilometers and is said to be the longest underwater railway tunnel in China. The tunnel is part of the 140 kilometer railway system that links Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The rail lines will be open in sections from now till 2016.

Hong Kong, the southern terminus of the national network, will be connected in 2015, allowing travel from the shores of Kowloon to Beijing in only 8 hours.

The national plan is to be able to travel between any two PRD cities within only one hour. This new railway line goes a long way to accomplishing that, allowing people to have dinner in Shenzhen and drinks later in Guangzhou.

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