Tracking China by Trains Plus

Info + updates about the Chinese national railway (including High Speed Rail), metro, and tram networks. Part of the @trainsplustweet network.

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IMPORTANT: In light of recent knife-related crime on China Railways, we urge would-be passengers to reconsider rail travel in China. We also urge China Railways to conduct a systematic security audit across the entire network.

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The city of Nanyang (南阳; city pop. c.2M) in SW He'nan, C.China, is planning a 6-line metro network, which includes 3 main lines (light rail/monorail/maglev) and 3 secondary lines (BRT or people movers). Of which Line S1 will link the city's HSR, Classic rail stations & airport.

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🚧 OPENING THIS YEAR
The Shandong part of the Ji'nan-Zhengzhou High Speed Railway is expected to open in late Nov 2023.
Tests are expected to begin starting 01 Jul 2023.
The new line (115.3 km long) starts from Ji'nan West (济南西) station and has three new stops in Shandong.

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🚧 IN THE WORKS & OPENING SOON
Hankou (汉口) station in Wuhan, Hubei, C.China, is getting a new north square, due to be completed soon. Part of this will be elevated and span over the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway. This is closest to Changqing 1st Road.

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🗺 UNDER PLANNING
A new 350 km/h HS line from Zhanjiang to Xuwen Port, just north of the Qionghai straits, separating Hainan from the rest of China, is being planned.
The 127 km line is part of the Baotou-Haikou HSR. This new plan does not yet mention an undersea tunnel.

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This train is ready to depart. We'll be resuming normal updates as of 15 May 2023 about the rail industry in China (mostly the mainland), with a few updates before. We'll be "general industry", so for updates that make sense to passengers, please follow @TravelClub350 instead.

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China just relaxed its quarantine rules — inbound quarantine in a hotel or other designated facility is now only 5 days instead of 7. The 3 days home quarantine remains untouched.

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In addition, there is now a new General Manager of China Railway, seen as second-in-charge at the railways. The new GM is 55-year-old Guo Zhuxue (郭竹学). Current China Railways Chairman Lu Dongfu (陆东福), known to be pro-High Speed, has retired at the age of 67.

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China Railways has a new Chairman + party secretary, Liu Zhenfang (刘振芳), who used to be head of the National Railway Administration. The 60-year old used to be hold major positions in the rail bureaus in southwestern, southern, and especially northern China.

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In addition to the current HSR link from Beijing to Hong Kong via Wuhan, there'll be a new one running further east, via the city of Shangqiu (商丘) in He'nan. The new line will connect with Shangqiu's main station, which also offers the Eurasian route (Lianyun'gang-Xinjiang).

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And then they keep on building. And building. And building…

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Customers can change between Tianjin Metro Lines 3 and 4 at Heping Road (和平路) interchange. This is an out-of-system one so passengers must exit the station. The journey will be treated as one if the transfer is completed within 30 minutes. Does not apply to single tickets.

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Tianjin Metro Line 4. Opened in late December 2021, the line currently runs from Old Town Southeast/Dongnanjiao (东南角) in Central Tianjin to Xinxing Village (新兴村) in the eastern suburbs. The line is currently 19.4 km (12.1 mi) long with 14 stations (3 interchanges).

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Fancy a bit of the Wall — and Trains too?

Travel TO the Great Wall at Badaling via High Speed. Exit at Badaling Great Wall station.

For the way back, go FROM the Wall via Suburban. Board from Badaling station. Then, discover the original Qinglongqiao station as you pass it by.

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As an incentive to get more people to travel by rail Zhuozhou East (涿州东) railway station is launching a new, one-stop 24 minute direct train as of tomorrow. Already now, the 06:23 Train G6702 seems to have been fully booked… and that train seats over a thousand customers!

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Beijing Daxing (北京大兴) railway station — in addition to the city’s main, north, east, south, and west stations, these ones, apart from Daxing, include the capital’s name…
• Beijing Chaoyang (北京朝阳) — trains to NE China
• Beijing Fengtai (北京丰台) — megahub in SW Beijing

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As part of the city of Beijing’s 2022-2027 Subway plans, Line 5 and the Yizhuang line could see through services. The latter would also link directly across to Line 10. Line 5 customers would no longer need to change trains at Songjiazhuang.

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The new line will head via City Hall Tongzhou, as well as Yizhuang at Jiahui Lake (嘉会湖) interchange. It will connect with Lines 1, 6, 7, 10, 17, and 22, at the very least. At Daxing New Town (大兴新城) station, customers can connect to the Daxing Airport Express.

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In the city of Beijing’s 2022-2027 Subway plans, Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) will get an express semi-direct link to Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). The new line is marketed as a suburban new town line, and seems not to be part of national rail.

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In Beijing, the Fangshan line is expected to extend even further northeast into the heart of the Beijing Finance Street before terminating at Lingjing Hutong interchange with Line 4, as part of the city’s 2022-2027 subway plans.