For greater interconnection in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the city’s CPPCC members plan to submit a proposal at the annual session of China’s top political advisory body to speed up the construction of the Shenzhen-Zhuhai and Shenzhen-Hangzhou high-speed rails, and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen maglev train, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
Wu Huanyan, a political adviser, argued that as two key cities in the Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen and Guangzhou should improve on the current traffic service as it cannot satisfy practical needs.
Wu suggested building a high-speed maglev train running from Shenzhen to the center of Guangzhou, saying that the rail could be extended to Hong Kong in the future.
According to Wu’s proposal, the maglev train should be built to run at a speed of at least 500 kilometers per hour. As a result, the journey between Shenzhen and Guangzhou would be cut to 15 minutes. Shenzhen and Guangzhou have the conditions to construct maglev trains and will have bigger influences on other cities in the area with such a train, according to Wu.
Li Xianyi, a CPPCC member and chairman of the board of Xinyi Glass, called for the construction of a high-speed railway between Shenzhen and Zhuhai.
“It takes half a day to travel between Shenzhen and Zhuhai, even though the two cities are only separated by the Pearl River. Moreover, Humen Bridge is very crowded,” said Li, adding that “quick travel has been achieved between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. However, there is no direct channel between Shenzhen and Macao, and the traffic to Zhuhai is inconvenient.”
Thus, Li suggested building a high-speed rail between Shenzhen and Zhuhai in order to relieve the burden on Guangzhou South Railway Station, as with the current system trains departing from Shenzhen need to pass through Guangzhou before arriving in Zhuhai. More importantly, with the new rail, cities on the west side of the Pearl River will be able to cooperate more efficiently with eastern cities to boost economic development.
A high-speed rail line to eastern China is also essential, according to the political advisers. “The Shenzhen high-speed railway should be extended farther to increase its connections with cities across the country,” said Wang Mingfan, a political adviser and chairman of the board of China Flavors & Fragrances Co. Ltd.
“At present, Shenzhen does not have a high-speed rail to the eastern parts of the country, and trains to areas such as the Yangtze River Delta and the city cluster on the West Side of the Straits are limited,” said Wang.
Wu also suggested building a new high-speed rail between Shenzhen and Hangzhou to increase connections between the cities as well as Shenzhen’s influence. “The new rail could take advantage of the Ganzhou-Shenzhen and Quzhou-Hangzhou high-speed rails,” said Wu.