Guangzhou–Zhuhai Railway is a railway, currently under construction, between Jiangcun in Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 and Gaolan Port in Zhuhai

Zhuhai

Zhuhai is a prefecture-level city on the southern coast of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and Macau to the south. Zhuhai was one of the original Special Economic Zones...

, via the cities of Foshan

Foshan

Foshan is a city in central Guangdong province in southern China. The prefectural area under the city's jurisdiction over an area of about 3,840 km² and a population of 5.4 million of which 1.1 million reside in the city proper ....

 and Jiangmen

Jiangmen

Jiangmen , is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong province in southern China with a population of about 4.48 million in 2010. The 3 urban districts are now part of Guangzhou - Shenzhen built up area.-Names:...

, in Guangdong

Guangdong

Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

Role

The railway will mainly be used for freight transportation with some passenger

Passenger

A passenger is a term broadly used to describe any person who travels in a vehicle, but bears little or no responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination....

 transportations available. It will consist of a total length of 186 kilometers and 11 stations

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

. Trains will travel at an estimated 120 km/h.

Another intercity rail between Guangzhou and Zhuhai, "Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway", which will be mainly for passenger transportation, also started construction in 2005 and will be completed in 2010. Since the intercity rail will take up the role of the passenger service between Guangzhou and Zhuhai, this can explain why Guangzhou–Zhuhai Railway will not be routed via Guangzhou City Area.

History

This railway project was approved by the State Development Planning Commission in 1993. The construction originally started in 1997, but it was stopped later due to lack of funds. It resumed construction in 2007 and is expected to be completed in 2011.

Constructing the railway involves digging a 9185 m long tunnel in Jiangmen. By May 2010, over half of the tunnel had been dug, and the entire tunnel was expected to be completed by the end of February 2011.