Guiyang–Guangzhou high-speed railway, also known as the Guiguang HSR, is a high-speed railway line in southern China between

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

Guizhou Province ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

and

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

. The railway is dedicated to high speed passenger rail service. The line is in length and can carry trains at speeds of up to . The line was built from 2008 to 2014 and opened on December 26, 2014. The line traverses rugged

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

terrain in Guizhou and

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

and relies on extensive bridges and tunnels, which comprise 83% of the line's total length. The travel time by train between the two terminal cities was reduced from 20 hours to 4 hours.(Chinese
陈清浩, "贵广高铁正式开通运营从贵阳到广州4小时可达" 南方日报
2014-12-26

History

The Guiguang HSR was a major trunk route planned in the 11th Five Year Plan by the Chinese government. It is designed to serve as a rapid rail link between the

southwest China Southwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xizang. Geography Southwestern China is a rugged and mountainous region, ...

and the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

. Construction began in 2008 and was completed in 2014. The line was built to accommodate train speeds of up to , with the capacity to be remodelled to allow train speeds of up to .

Route

The Guiguang HSR takes a more direct route between its terminal cities, and crosses exceptionally difficult and mountainous terrain, which made construction very costly. The project cost an estimated 85.8 billion RMB (US$12.5 billion), although this figure was later revised to 94.6 billion RMB (US$13.8 billion). The line runs from

through

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

, Sanshui and

Zhaoqing Zhaoqing ( zh, c=肇庆), alternately romanized as Shiuhing, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,113,594, with 1,553,109 living in the built-up (or metro) area made of Duanz ...

in the densely populated Pearl River Delta and then crosses the

Lingnan Lingnan (; ) is a geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains. The region covers the modern China, Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong & Macau and Northern Vietnam. Background The ar ...

mountain range via Huaiji into

. It continues in a northwesterly direction through

Hezhou Hezhou () is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. Geography and climate Hezhou is located in northeastern Guangxi. It borders Hunan to the north and Guangdong to the east. ...

and

Zhongxiang Zhongxiang () is a county-level city of Jingmen, central Hubei province, People's Republic of China. The name ''Zhongxiang'' means "Blessed with propitious omen", and was given to the city by the Jiajing Emperor in the Ming dynasty. History Zhong ...

to the famed scenic cities of Yangshuo and

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

and then on to Sanjiang. The line enters Guizhou at Congjiang near the southeast tip of the province and passes Rongjiang, Sandu,

Duyun Duyun () is the capital city of Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou province, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding ...

, and Longli on to

in the center of the province. This line traverses 270 tunnels and 510 valleys across the

landscape.(Chinese
"揭秘：贵广高铁如何穿越喀斯特" ''南方都市报''
2014-12-26 Bridges and tunnels account for 83% of the line's total length, including 92% in Guizhou. A total of 238 tunnels, totaling , were built along route including nine tunnels over in length. The longest tunnel, through the Yan Mountain in Rongjiang, is .

Stations

Accidents and incidents

4 June 2022 – around 10:30AM CST, train at Rongjiang railway station following a collision with a landslide just after exiting the Yuezhai Tunnel entrance. This led to the death of the driver, who noticed an "abnormality" on the track and engaged the emergency brakes, minimizing the disaster. Upon derailing, the train slid by more than 900 meters. The front car of the train swept out to the opposing track and finally stopped wedged on to the platform Rongjiang railway station. One crew member and seven passengers sustained injuries. Train G2929 passed through the tunnel normally and entered Rongjiang railway station 15 minutes earlier, which meant the landslide happened quite suddenly. Repair work of the line was completed and resumed normal operation the next day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guiyang-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway High-speed railway lines in China Rail transport in Guangdong Rail transport in Guangxi Rail transport in Guizhou Railway lines opened in 2014 Airport rail links in China