Line 3 of the
Guangzhou Metro
The Guangzhou Metro ( zh, s=广州地铁, labels=no) is the rapid transit system of the city of Guangzhou in the Guangdong Province of China. It is operated by the state-owned Guangzhou Metro Corporation and was the fourth metro system to be b ...
is a
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
line connects to . The entire line, including all track and stations, is located in
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
s. Its main branch, excluding the branch between Tianhe Coach Terminal and Tiyu Xilu, is now the third
longest continuous subway tunnel in the world, and the
longest rail tunnel of any kind (surpassing the
Gotthard Base Tunnel
The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; , , ) is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened in June 2016 and full service began the following December. With a route length of , it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunn ...
in Switzerland).
Line 3 is split into two sections, Shiqiao line (main line, from Haibang to Tianhe Coach Terminal) and Airport line (northern branch, Tiyu Xilu to Airport North), and are branded with the colour orange. The line is extremely congested, with numerous sections officially operating over 100% capacity. The line uses Seltrac S40
communications-based train control
Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accura ...
from
Alcatel
Alcatel SA was a French industrial conglomerate active between 1963 and 2006. It has roots to ''Compagnie Générale d’Electricité'' (CGE), a conglomerate founded in 1898 as an early state owned cable and telephone equipment company that lat ...
.
History
Initial section
Line 3 started out as a short peripheral line in Guangzhou's "Five-Line" subway masterplan in the early 1990s. It was envisioned as a north south circulator line for the
Tianhe District's new CBD connecting
Guangzhou East railway station with the proposed
Zhujiang New Town
Zhujiang New Town or Zhujiang New City is a central business district in Tianhe District, Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, China. It is bounded by Huangpu Avenue on the north, the Pearl River on the south, Guangzhou Avenue on the west ...
CBD, crossing the
Pearl River
The Pearl River (, or ) is an extensive river system in southern China. "Pearl River" is often also used as a catch-all for the watersheds of the Pearl tributaries within Guangdong, specifically the Xi ('west'), Bei ('north'), and Dong ( ...
to
Chigang station on what was then
Line 2 and turning east to Xinzhou.
Essentially taking over the section of Today's
Line 8 between
Chigang and
Wanshengwei stations. However at the time it was planned to run under Liede Avenue just east of the new CBD instead of under Xiyu West Road like it does today.
In Guangzhou's updated "Seven-Line" subway masterplan published in the late 1990s the proposed Line 3 plan was extended north to arc over old Guangzhou terminating around
Chatou Station on
Line 13 and
Line 12. Additionally the southern section of the line was rerouted southwest roughly following today's
Line 12 between
Chigang and
Luntou,
with the section east to Xinzhou mostly being taken over by what is today
Line 8.
Line 3 was redesigned into a pure north south line running between Guangzhou East Railway station to reach
Panyu District
Panyu, Postal Map Romanization, formerly romanized as Punyü, is one of 11 District (China), urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, Guangdong Province, China. Since January 1975, Panyu County has bee ...
. A branch line was added between
Tiyu Xilu station and
Tianhe Coach Terminal station.
The change was done in response with the local government's "Southern Expansion" plan to develop the southern areas of Guangzhou.
This plan required faster transportation links with
Panyu District
Panyu, Postal Map Romanization, formerly romanized as Punyü, is one of 11 District (China), urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, Guangdong Province, China. Since January 1975, Panyu County has bee ...
and the new CBD. At the time limited ridership of the first phases of Line 1 and 2 as well as underestimated urban growth rates lead to downscaling of Line 3's trains. The line would use three car Type B trains instead of higher capacity six car Type A trains used in Line 1 and 2; assuming that capacity shortfalls would be mitigated by running a more frequent service, with an ultimate train configuration of six cars in the future as demand slowly increases. Additionally, a separate Airport Express line between
Guangzhou's New Baiyun International Airport and the new CBD was proposed.
Construction the first section of Line 3 between East Guangzhou Railway station and officially commenced with groundbreaking on the experimental segment at
Datang station in 2001. On January 26, 2003, construction work at Datang was completed and capped. On February 8, 2003
tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole" or a "worm", is a machine used to excavate tunnels. TBMs are an alternative to drilling and blasting methods and "hand mining", allowing more rapid excavation through hard rock, wet or dry so ...
s begin boring tunnels on the first section of Line 3. Tunnel boring machines beginning boring tunnels on a section of Line 3 at
Tiyu Xilu station. Tiyu Xilu Station will use
cut-and-cover
A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two Portal (architecture), portals common at each end, though ther ...
construction with a bored section in the middle where it runs under
Line 1 with only of cover. On May 30, 2003 Construction work at
Shiqiao station was completed and capped one month ahead of schedule. At the same time,
Lijiao station begin construction works. 99 sets of escalators were purchased from
Hitachi
() is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
for the project. The entire project was opened in stages between 2005 and 2006.
North South Express Line
During construction of the initial segment, Line 3 and the Airport Express Line were redesigned and now planned as a single project that begins to resemble its configuration today; A line from Baiyun International Airport to
Haibang station via
Zhujiang New Town
Zhujiang New Town or Zhujiang New City is a central business district in Tianhe District, Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, China. It is bounded by Huangpu Avenue on the north, the Pearl River on the south, Guangzhou Avenue on the west ...
and
Panyu Square.
The Airport Express Line was merged into Line 3 as the Line 3 Phase 2 project. The expected long term peak demand section of the Phase 2 project is 20,000
passengers per hour per direction. This allowed for the use of Line 3's three car Type B trains on the Airport Line, again assuming that capacity shortfalls would be mitigated by running a more frequent service, with an ultimate train configuration of six cars in the future. Additionally,
passing loops and higher speed () operations were proposed for the Airport Line to allow for distinct airport express and regular local services similar to the MTR
Tung Chung line
The Tung Chung line () is one of the ten lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, linking the town of Tung Chung with central Hong Kong. It was built in the 1990s as part of the Airport Railway project, part of the construction of the new ...
and
Airport Express in Hong Kong.
The express services would run between
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is an international airport serving Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
The airport codes were inherited from the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former), former Baiyun Airport, and the IATA code is de ...
and
Tiyu Xilu and only stop at what is today
Jiahewanggang,
Yantang,
Guangzhou East railway stations.
The Phase 2 Project extends Line 3 north to the new airport on a mostly elevated alignment. In 2007, of Phase 2 line also redesigned to run underground instead of elevated at a cost of an additional 1 billion Yuan. With the redesigned underground alignment, passing loops for express services were removed to control construction costs.
The line was now completely transformed into a north south express line with wide stop spacings and operation in suburban sections instead of a local metro line, with aspects of an express railway link, as first envisioned. Later
Yongtai station and
Gaozeng station was added to the plan the latter station added in anticipation for
Line 9. On October 30, 2010 Line 3 Phase 2 entered operation.
Congestion
In 2010, after the completion of Phase 2, Line 3 has become the most important north-south traffic artery in the urban area of Guangzhou. This is a far cry from the peripheral circulator line it was originally envisioned to be in the 1990s. Massive developments at the
Zhujiang New Town
Zhujiang New Town or Zhujiang New City is a central business district in Tianhe District, Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, China. It is bounded by Huangpu Avenue on the north, the Pearl River on the south, Guangzhou Avenue on the west ...
CBD and strong population growth of Guangzhou as a whole, created unforeseen high demand and heavy congestion for the line which forced new B2 and B4 series six car trains to be ordered and existing B1 series three car trains were linked together to form six car sets, decades ahead of the original timeline.
The new B2 and B4 series trains will have luggage racks to support Line 3's role as an
airport rail link
An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport between an airport and a nearby city. Direct links operate straight from the airport terminal to the city, while other links require an intermediate use of a people mover or ...
.
The new trains gradually allowed the line to operate to its ultimate configuration of six car type B trains running just at two minute headways. Severe congestion continued to plague the line even at its ultimate design configuration as demand continued to increase. In June 2014, the maximum full load rate in the morning peak of the whole line of Line 3 was as high as 136%, appearing in the interval between Kecun Station and Guangzhou Tower Station. In 2015, with daily average ridership reaching over 1.5 million passengers per day, several rows of seats and all luggage racks where removed from all trains in an attempt to increase capacity. In June 2017, the ridership of Line 3 has grown to average over 2 million passengers per day. In March 2018, the whole line heading in the peak direction of the
Zhujiang New Town
Zhujiang New Town or Zhujiang New City is a central business district in Tianhe District, Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, China. It is bounded by Huangpu Avenue on the north, the Pearl River on the south, Guangzhou Avenue on the west ...
CBD exceeded 100% capacity during the AM peak period with a maximum full load rate exceeding 120% in the section from Yantang Station to Guangzhou East Station on the Airport Line.
The busiest section of Line 3 carries over 60,000
pphpd in 2018, multiples over the long term 20,000 pphpd volume projected during the Airport Line's construction. By 2020, the most congested section of Line 3 reached 150% capacity. Peak period headways have been reduced to every 1 minute 58 seconds and now reaches fleet and signal system capacities.
Line 18 and the proposed Line 26 are expected to relieve the congestion of Line 3.
Eastern extension
A further extension east of Haibang Station to Hai'ou Island and eventually across the
Pearl River
The Pearl River (, or ) is an extensive river system in southern China. "Pearl River" is often also used as a catch-all for the watersheds of the Pearl tributaries within Guangdong, specifically the Xi ('west'), Bei ('north'), and Dong ( ...
to
Dongguan
Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...
was proposed in 2007. In 2017, the Guangzhou Municipal Land Planning Commission approved the planning for Line 3 to be extended to Hai'ou Island. However, the extension eastward beyond
Panyu Square station was approved by
National Development and Reform Commission
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is the third-ranked executive department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, which functions as a macroeconomic management agency. Established as the State Planning C ...
to only reach
Haibang station as part of Guangzhou's (2015–2025) subway expansion plan in March 2018.
It was revealed that the extension to Hai'ou Island is reserved for future planning.
The extension is 9.58 km long as will add four new stations and connect Line 3 to
Line 4. Construction of this extension started November 19, 2018. It opened just under 6 years later on November 1, 2024.
[
]
Opening timeline
Train service
There are 4 types of train services offered on the metro line 3:
* —
* —
* —
* ← (southbound trains only, operating during morning peak hours on working days)
Stations
*N - Northern extension (Airport Branch)
*M - Main line
*MN - Thru Services
* OSI - Out-of-station interchange (only available for IC cards users)
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Special short-distance service
Due to route planning issues, it is difficult for passengers in the middle of the route to board the train. In order to solve this problem, short-distance service trains will be added at certain times. The known service arrangements are as follows:
*Between and : This service is only available during peak hours in the morning on weekdays. The southern end at starting service from September 25, 2018 is , and the southern end changing to Tiyu Xilu Station is from February 24, 2020.
*Between and : This service is only available during peak hours in the morning on weekdays.
*From /// to : This service is only available during peak hours in the morning on weekdays. Since 2013, it provide services from Tonghe Station to Dashi Station. After providing short-distance service between Panyu Square Station and Tonghe Station in 2018, there will be one train departing from Longgui Station and two trains departing from Jiahe Wanggang Station at about 8:00, and one train departing from Tianhe Coach Terminal Station at about 8:18. After arriving at the terminal station, Dashi Station, some trains will resume normal services, and other trains will end the service and keep stand by.
*From // to : This service is available in the morning and evening peak hours.
*From to : This service is available in the morning and evening peak hours.
*From / to : This service is the last trains before the end of the day's operation service. After the train reaches the end, it will end the service and return to the Jiahe Wanggang depot.
*From / to : This service is only available during peak hours in the evening on weekdays.
Future expansion
Line 10
The Tiyu Xilu-Tianhe Coach Terminal Section is planned to no longer operate as part of Line 3. The Shipaiqiao-Tianhe Coach Terminal Section will be transferred to Line 10, with the remaining Main and Northern sections being combined into one single service.
Rolling stock
At the time of introduction Line 3 trains were one of the fastest subway trains in China when initially introduced, reaching up to in service. As of 2020 there is a fleet of 71 six car trains serving Line 3. To accommodate increased fleet requirements for the eastern extension, an additional 10 six car trainsets have been ordered. In August 2020, plans were announced a further 18 additional trains to be purchased for Line 3 to reduce headways and improve capacity. This will push the fleet serving Line 3 to 99 trainsets.
File:CSR Zhuzhou-Siemens train of Line 3, Guangzhou Metro.jpg, Guangzhou Metro B1
File:中国南车株洲电力机车-广州地铁B型列车.JPG, Guangzhou Metro B2
File:03x131-132 at Xiajiao Depot (02).jpg, Guangzhou Metro B4
File:03x157-158 at Xiajiao Depot.jpg, Guangzhou Metro B10
File:CCD5059 (B11) at Xiajiao Depot.jpg, Guangzhou Metro B11
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guangzhou Metro, Line 03
03
Railway lines opened in 2005
2005 establishments in China
Airport rail links in China
1500 V DC railway electrification