Line 3
Platform ofTiyu Xilu
Overview
Other names	M3 (5 lines plan name) M6 (7 lines plan name) M3 (2000 plan name) Southern-Northern express line (南北快线) Shiqiao line (市桥线) Airport line (机场线)
Status	Operational
Owner	City of Guangzhou
Locale	Panyu,Haizhu,Tianhe,Baiyun, andHuadu districts Guangzhou,Guangdong
Termini	Tiyu Xilu/Haibang Airport North (Terminal 2)/Tianhe Coach Terminal
Stations	34
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Guangzhou Metro
Services	2
Operator(s)	Guangzhou Metro Corporation
Rolling stock	120Siemens Mobility-CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Modular Metrocars[1]
Daily ridership	1.318 million (Main Line), 871,400 (Airport Branch) (2019 Avg.)[2] 2.759 million (2019 Main and Airport combined Peak)[3]
History
Opened	26 December 2005; 19 years ago (2005-12-26)
Technical
Line length	74.83 km (46.50 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Character	Underground
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification	Overhead lines, 1,500 VDC
Operating speed	120 km/h (75 mph)
Route map Legend Airport North(Terminal 2) Airport South(Terminal 1)  9  toFei'eling Gaozeng  9  connection toLine 9 Renhe Liuxi River Longgui  14  toDongfeng/Zhenlong Jiahe Depot Jiahewanggang  2  14   14  toLejia Road  2  toGuangzhou South Railway Station Baiyundadaobei Yongtai Tonghe Jingxi Nanfang Hospital Meihuayuan  6  toXiangxue Tianhe Coach Terminal  6  Yantang  6   6  toXunfenggang branch line(Future 10 ) Wushan Guangshen railway South China Normal University  11   11 Inner Circle Gangding Shipaiqiao toGuangzhou Railway Station Guangzhou East Railway Station  1  11   11 Outer Circle Linhexi  APM  Tiyu Xilu  1   1 toXilang  13  toChaoyang toXinsha Zhujiang New Town  5   5  toJiaokou toWenchong Pearl River Pearl River Canton Tower  APM  Chigang Pagoda Yard  12  toXunfenggang toHigher Education Mega Center South Kecun  8   8  toJiaoxin toWanshengwei Datang  11   11  Inner Circle Outer Circle Lijiao  Guangfo   Guangfo toXincheng Dong Pearl River Xiajiao Depot Xiajiao Sanzhixiang Creek Dashi originalLine 7 alignment  7  toMeidi Dadao toYanshan Hanxi Changlong  7   22  toChentougang Shiqiao  18  toWanqingsha toXiancun Panyu Square  18  22  Bangjiang Yanzhou Yard Shiqinan Haichong Lu  4  toNansha Passenger Port toHuangcun Haibang  4  This diagram: view talk edit

Line 3 of theGuangzhou Metro is a 74.83-kilometer (46.50 mi)rapid transit line that connectsHaibang toAirport North (Terminal 2). The entire line, including all track and stations, is located intunnels.^[4] Its 67.33 km (41.84 mi) main branch, excluding the 7.5 km (4.66 mi) branch betweenTianhe Coach Terminal andTiyu Xilu is now the secondlongest continuous subway tunnel in the world, and thelongest rail tunnel of any kind (surpassing theGotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland).

Line 3 is split into two sections,Shiqiao line (main line, from Haibang to Tianhe Coach Terminal) andAirport 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.^[5] The line uses Seltrac S40communications-based train control fromAlcatel.^[6]

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 theTianhe District's new CBD connectingGuangzhou East railway station with the proposedZhujiang New Town CBD, crossing thePearl River toChigang station on what was thenLine 2 and turning east to Xinzhou.^[7] Essentially taking over the section of Today'sLine 8 betweenChigang andWanshengwei 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.^[7] 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 aroundChatou Station onLine 12 andLine 13. Additionally the southern section of the line was rerouted southwest roughly following today'sLine 12 betweenChigang andLuntou,^[7] with the section east to Xinzhou mostly being taken over by what is todayLine 8.

Line 3 was redesigned into a pure north south line running between Guangzhou East Railway station to reachPanyu District. A branch line was added betweenTiyu Xilu station andTianhe Coach Terminal station.^[8] The change was done in response with the local government's "Southern Expansion" plan to develop the southern areas of Guangzhou.^[8] This plan required faster transportation links withPanyu District 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.^[9] 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.^[10] Additionally, a separate Airport Express line betweenGuangzhou's New Baiyun International Airport and the new CBD was proposed.^[11]

Construction the first section of Line 3 between East Guangzhou Railway station and officially commenced with groundbreaking on the experimental segment atDatang station in 2001. On January 26, 2003, construction work at Datang was completed and capped.^[12] On February 8, 2003tunnel boring machines begin boring tunnels on the first section of Line 3.^[13] Tunnel boring machines beginning boring tunnels on a section of Line 3 atTiyu Xilu station. Tiyu Xilu Station will usecut-and-cover construction with a bored section in the middle where it runs underLine 1 with only 80 cm (31 in) of cover.^[14] On May 30, 2003 Construction work atShiqiao station was completed and capped one month ahead of schedule.^[15] At the same time,Lijiao station begin construction works.^[16] 99 sets of escalators were purchased fromHitachi for the project.^[17] The entire project was opened in stages between 2005 and 2006.

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 toHaibang station viaZhujiang New Town andPanyu Square.^[7] 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 20,000passengers per hour per direction.^[18] 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 (140 km/h (87 mph)) operations were proposed for the Airport Line to allow for distinct airport express and regular local services similar to the MTRTung Chung line andAirport Express in Hong Kong.^[19] The express services would run betweenGuangzhou Baiyun International Airport andTiyu Xilu and only stop at what is todayJiahewanggang,Yantang,Guangzhou East railway stations.^[19] The Phase 2 Project extends Line 3 north to the new airport on a mostly elevated alignment.^[20] In 2007, 17 km (10.56 mi) of Phase 2 line also redesigned to run underground instead of elevated at a cost of an additional 1 billion Yuan.^[21][22] With the redesigned underground alignment, passing loops for express services were removed to control construction costs.^[19] The line was now completely transformed into a north south express line with wide stop spacings and 120 km/h (75 mph) operation in suburban sections instead of a local metro line, with aspects of an express railway link, as first envisioned.^[23] LaterYongtai station andGaozeng station was added to the plan the latter station added in anticipation forLine 9. On October 30, 2010 Line 3 Phase 2 entered operation.^[24]

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 theZhujiang New Town 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.^[25][26] The new B2 and B4 series trains will have luggage racks to support Line 3's role as anairport rail link.^[26] 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.^[27] 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.^[28][29] In June 2017, the ridership of Line 3 has grown to average over 2 million passengers per day.^[30] In March 2018, the whole line heading in the peak direction of theZhujiang New Town 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.^[31] The busiest section of Line 3 carries over 60,000pphpd in 2018,^[32] 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.^[33] Peak period headways have been reduced to every 1 minute 58 seconds and now reaches fleet and signal system capacities.^[31]Line 18 and the proposed Line 26 are expected to relieve the congestion of Line 3.

A further extension east of Haibang Station to Hai'ou Island and eventually across thePearl River toDongguan 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.^[34] However, the extension eastward beyondPanyu Square station was approved byNational Development and Reform Commission to only reachHaibang station as part of Guangzhou's (2015–2025) subway expansion plan in March 2018.^[35] It was revealed that the extension to Hai'ou Island is reserved for future planning.^[35] The extension is 9.58 km long as will add four new stations and connect Line 3 toLine 4.^[36] Construction of this extension started November 19, 2018.^[37] It opened just under 6 years later on November 1, 2024.^[38]

There are 4 types of train services offered on the metro line 3:

• Tiyu Xilu —Airport North (Terminal 2)
• Haibang —Tianhe Coach Terminal
• Haibang —Airport North (Terminal 2)
• Dashi ←Tonghe (southbound trains only, operating during morning peak hours on working days)

• N - Northern extension (Airport Branch)
• M - Main line
• MN - Thru Services
• OSI - Out-of-station interchange (only available for IC cards users)

N	M	MN	Station No.		Station name		Connections	Future Connections	Distance km		Location
					English	Chinese
	●	●	301-4		Haibang	海傍	4 414		0.00	0.00	Panyu
	●	●	301-3		Haichong Lu	海涌路			2.00	2.00
	●	●	301-2		Shiqinan	石碁南			1.90	3.90
	●	●	301-1		Bangjiang	傍江			3.10	7.00
	●	●	301		Panyu Square	番禺广场	18 1803 22 2201		2.40	9.40
	●	●	302		Shiqiao	市桥			3.86	13.26
	●	●	303		Hanxi Changlong	汉溪长隆	7 705 GH		6.27	19.53
	●	●	304		Dashi	大石	ER  (Dashi East)		2.44	21.97
	●	●	305		Xiajiao	厦滘			2.85	24.82
	●	●	306		Lijiao	沥滘	Guangfo GF25		1.85	26.67	Haizhu
	●	●	307		Datang	大塘	11 1130		2.57	29.24
	●	●	308		Kecun	客村	8 823		2.02	31.26
	●	●	309		Canton Tower	广州塔	APM APM01  THZ1 THZ101 OSI: 12  (Chigang Pagoda1218)		1.15	32.41
	●	●	310		Zhujiang New Town	珠江新城	5 510		1.51	33.92	Tianhe
●	●	●	311		Tiyu Xilu	体育西路	1 114GBRT OSI: APM  (TianhenanAPM07)	10  OSI: 13  (Huacheng Square North)1315	1.31	35.23
｜	●	｜	312		Shipaiqiao	石牌桥	GBRT		1.34	36.57	Tianhe
｜	●	｜	313		Gangding	岗顶	GBRT		0.85	37.42
｜	●	｜	314		South China Normal University	华师	11 1106		0.88	38.30
｜	●	｜	315		Wushan	五山			1.59	39.89
｜	●	｜	316		Tianhe Coach Terminal	天河客运站	6 621		2.59	42.48
●		●	317		Linhexi	林和西	APM APM09		1.15	36.38	Tianhe
●		●	318		Guangzhou East Railway Station	广州东站	1 116 11 1108  GS GGQ	18	1.09	37.47
●		●	319		Yantang	燕塘	6 620		1.07	38.54
●		●	320		Meihuayuan	梅花园			1.90	40.44	Baiyun
●		●	321		Jingxi Nanfang Hospital	京溪南方医院			1.36	41.80
●		●	322		Tonghe	同和			1.39	43.19
●		●	323		Yongtai	永泰			3.34	46.53
●		●	324		Baiyundadaobei	白云大道北			0.85	47.38
●		●	325		Jiahewanggang	嘉禾望岗	2 224 14 1409		2.25	49.63
●		●	326		Longgui	龙归			6.30	55.93
●		●	327		Renhe	人和		22	5.37	61.30
●		●	328		Gaozeng	高增	9 911		2.46	63.76
●		●	329		Airport South (Terminal 1)	机场南（1号航站楼）	CAN ER	22	3.81	67.57	Huadu
●		●	330		Airport North (Terminal 2)	机场北（2号航站楼）	22 CAN ER		1.23	68.80

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:

• BetweenTiyu Xilu andTonghe: This service is only available during peak hours in the morning on weekdays. The southern end at starting service from September 25, 2018 isPanyu Square, and the southern end changing to Tiyu Xilu Station is from February 24, 2020.
• BetweenAirport North (Terminal 2) andDashi: This service is only available during peak hours in the morning on weekdays.
• FromTonghe/Longgui/Jiahewanggang/Tianhe Coach Terminal toDashi: 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.
• FromDashi/Xiajiao/Kecun toTianhe Coach Terminal: This service is available in the morning and evening peak hours.
• FromTiyu Xilu toHaibang: This service is available in the morning and evening peak hours.
• FromTiyu Xilu/Haibang toJiahewanggang: 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.
• FromLinhexi/Guangzhou East Railway Station toAirport North (Terminal 2): This service is only available during peak hours in the evening on weekdays.

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.

At the time of introduction Line 3 trains were one of the fastest subway trains in China when initially introduced, reaching up to 120 km/h (75 mph) in service.^[39] As of 2020 there is a fleet of 71 six car trains serving Line 3.^[40] To accommodate increased fleet requirements for the eastern extension, an additional 10 six car trainsets have been ordered.^[41] In August 2020, plans were announced a further 18 additional trains to be purchased for Line 3 to reduce headways and improve capacity.^[42] This will push the fleet serving Line 3 to 99 trainsets.^[40]

• 
  Guangzhou Metro B1
• 
  Guangzhou Metro B2
• 
  Guangzhou Metro B4
• 
  Guangzhou Metro B10
• 
  Guangzhou Metro B11

• Guangzhou Metro lines
• Railway lines opened in 2005
• 2005 establishments in China
• Airport rail links in China
• 1500 V DC railway electrification

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