| Beijing–Guangzhou railway 京广铁路 | |
|---|---|
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 The Jingguang railway on the Snake Hill inWuhan. In the far background, the railway crosses theYangtze over theWuhan Bridge. | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | Beijing,Hebei,Henan,Hubei,Hunan,Guangdong |
| Termini | |
| Stations | 53 active |
| Service | |
| Type | Heavy rail |
| System | China Railway |
| Operator(s) |  China Railway |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 2,324 km (1,444 mi) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge |
| Operating speed | 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) |
TheBeijing–Guangzhou railway orJingguang railway (simplified Chinese:京广铁路;traditional Chinese:京廣鐵路;pinyin:Jīngguǎng tiělù) is a major trunk railway that connectsBeijing in the north withGuangzhou in the south. This double-track electrified line has a total length of 2,324 kilometres (1,444 miles) and spans five provinces throughnorth,central and south China. The line passes through the capitals of each of them:Shijiazhuang (Hebei),Zhengzhou (Henan),Wuhan (Hubei),Changsha (Hunan) and Guangzhou (Guangdong). The line's two terminals are theBeijing West railway station and theGuangzhou railway station.
Due to abundance of large and medium-sized cities on its route, this railway is widely recognized[by whom?] as the most important conventional railway line in China.
The Jingguang railway was originally two independent companies: theBeijing–Hankou railway in the north fromBeijing toHankou, and theGuangdong–Hankou railway in the south fromWuchang toGuangzhou. Hankou and Wuchang were cities on opposite sides of theYangtze River that became part of the present city ofWuhan in 1927.
The 1,215-kilometre (755 mi) longBeijing–Hankou railway (Jinghan railway) was built between 1897 and 1906.[1] The concession was originally awarded to a Belgian company that was backed by French investors. A strong desire to bring the route under Chinese control led to the formation of theBank of Communications to secure the financing needed to repatriate the railway. The successful redemption of the railway in 1909 enhanced the prestige of theCommunications Clique, which became a powerful political force in the early Republic.[2]
Construction of theGuangdong–Hankou railway (Yuehan railway) began in 1900 and progressed more slowly.[1] The concession was originally awarded to theAmerican China Development Company, but a diplomatic crisis erupted when the Belgians purchased a controlling interest in it. The concession was cancelled in 1904 to prevent Franco-Belgian interests from controlling the entire Beijing–Guangdong route.[2] TheGuangzhou–Sanshui branch line was completed in 1904.[3] TheChangsha–Zhuzhou section was then completed in 1911, followed by the Guangzhou–Shaoguan section in 1916, and the Wuchang–Changsha section in 1918.[1] Work on the final section between Zhuzhou and Shaoguan began in 1929 but was not completed until 1936.[1][4]
On 7 February 1923, workers of the Beijing-Wuhan Railway Workers' association launched a massive strike demanding better workers' rights and protesting oppression by warlords. The strike, organized byShi Yang and Lin Xiangqian, was an early example of worker mobilization by theChinese Communist Party.[5]
In March 1937, the two lines were indirectly interconnected through the railway ferry on the Yangtze River, thus enabling the service of railway services between Guangzhou and Beijing. On 15 October 1957,Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was completed, and the two lines could be directly connected to form a merged line system until now.
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From north to south:
| km | Station | Metro connections | Province /Municipality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Beijing West |  7 9 | Beijing |
| 0 | Beijing Fengtai | 10 | |
| 135 | Baoding | Hebei | |
| 270 | Shijiazhuang |  2 3 | |
| 431 | Handan | ||
| 598 | Xinxiang | Henan | |
| 678 | Zhengzhou |  1 | |
| 818 | Luohe | ||
| 980 | Xinyang | ||
| Hankou | metro 2 | Hubei | |
| 1,214 | Wuchang | metro 4 7 | |
| 1,440 | Yueyang | Hunan | |
| 1,587 | Changsha |  2 3 | |
| 1,639 | Zhuzhou | ||
| 1,773 | Hengyang | ||
| 2,073 | Shaoguan East | Guangdong | |
| 2,294 | Guangzhou |  2 5 |
Currently, theBeijing–Kowloon "Jingjiu" through train operates on this line. Prior to 2003, this train called at stops along the route, before border controls were set up at Beijing, which made the compartments to Kowloon sterile, making the intermediate stops available for use only for domestic passengers in separate carriages attached atGuangzhou East Station.
TheBeijing–Kowloon railway, completed in 1996, is another conventional railway connecting Beijing with thePearl River Delta. It runs mostly within a corridor 100–300 kilometres (60–190 miles) to the east of the Beijing–Guangzhou railway.
TheBeijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway runs through the same major cities as the original railway, on a slightly different route that avoids built-up areas and has a greatercurve radius allowing for higher speeds and a somewhat shorter overall length. In most cities along the line, the high-speed trains stop at different, purpose-built stations, rather than the older stations served by the original line.[6] TheWuhan–Guangzhou section of the high-speed railway opened in 2009, and the Beijing–Wuhan section in 2012.
As consecutive sections of theBeijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway became operational, the railway authorities shifted much of passenger traffic from the original railway to the new high-speed line. This allowed an increase in the amount of freight volume transported over the original route. For example, according to preliminary estimates, after the entire Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway opens, the annual freight capacity of the northern half of the Beijing–Guangzhou railway (between its two main freight stations, Beijing'sFengtai West railway station andWuhan North railway station) would increase by 20 million tons.[7]
On 29 June 2009,two passenger trains collided at Chenzhou station, leaving three people dead and 63 injured.[8]
Work upon the branch line from Canton to Samshui (about 30 miles) commenced in December, 1902, and a length of ten miles, as far as Fatshan, was opened on 15 November 1903. The line was extended to Samshui the following year.
English newspapers announce that the last rail has been laid of the railway link between Hankow and Canton.
| Stations with passenger services |
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| Connecting railways |
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