Source: China Newsweek
"How is the planning of the Hepu Zhanjiang high-speed railway going? Is there any actual progress? It is said that there is no sign of starting construction every year. When will it start?" A few days ago, a netizen asked about the progress of the Hepu Zhanjiang high-speed railway on the People's Daily Online "Leaders Message Board", expressing his eagerness.
In response, the Department of Transportation of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region replied on April 18 that the Hepu Zhanjiang Railway Project has been included in the Medium and Long Term Railway Network Planning, and is a key project in the 14th Five Year Plan of the autonomous region. The party committee and government of the autonomous region attach great importance to project construction, and promote the project to start within the year.
Schematic Diagram of Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway. Figure/The 14th Five Year Plan for Comprehensive Transportation Development in Guangxi
Figure/Zhanjiang Official website of municipal people's government It is worth noting that the Department of Transport of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region mentioned that Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, has different opinions on the route scheme. The Zhanjiang Municipal Government requires the design unit to make three special plans, which are studied by the municipal government and approved by the Guangdong Provincial Government before agreeing to hold the EIA publicity layout meeting, which affects the EIA publicity. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment is expected to reply to the EIA by July 30, 2024.
Hepu Zhanjiang High speed Railway (hereinafter referred to as "Hepu Zhanjiang High speed Railway"), located in the hinterland of the Beibu Gulf, connects Beihai City (Hepu County) and Zhanjiang City, the southern coastal area at the border between Guangxi and Guangdong. It is an important part of the national "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed railway network, including the (silver) sea passage and coastal passage, and has been included in the national Medium and Long term Railway Network Planning, the "14th Five Year Plan" Development Planning of Modern Comprehensive Transportation System.
China Newsweek learned that Guangdong and Guangxi had made it clear that the Hefei Zhanjiang high-speed railway would start in 2024. However, the publicity of environmental impact assessment has been affected, which means that it is still uncertain whether the construction of Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway can start within the year.
Of course, the good thing is that this railway channel, which has been planned for more than 10 years, is gradually approaching.
After many ups and downs
The predecessor of Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway is the Hepu Zhanjiang Railway Project approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in April 2011. It has been approved for 14 years. After continuous optimization and development, the line standard has been adjusted for many times, and now it has become a high specification high-speed railway, which can be described as a bumpy experience.
According to the public information, as early as April 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission had approved the construction document of the Compound Pu Zhanjiang Railway Project, and in April 2015, the feasibility study report of the Compound Zhanjiang Railway Project was approved according to the speed standard of 200 km/hour. The original China Railway Corporation and the governments of Guangxi and Guangdong also jointly approved the preliminary design of the project in August 2015.
It is worth mentioning that at least two commencement ceremonies were held for this railway. In April 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission approved the Feasibility Study Report on the New Hepu Zhanjiang Railway, and the commencement ceremony of the Guangxi Section of Hepu Zhanjiang Railway was held in Hepu County in December of the same year.
On January 15, 2016, the former China Railway Corporation held the feasibility study review meeting of the feasibility study report on the adjustment of Hepu Zhanjiang Railway in Beijing. The project is proposed to be adjusted from 200 km/h passenger and freight lines to 250 km/h passenger dedicated lines; In December of the same year, the commencement ceremony of the Guangdong section of Hefei Zhanjiang Railway was held in Suixi County, Zhanjiang City. Zhanjiang Daily reported at that time that, so far, the construction of both Guangdong and Guangxi sections of the He Zhan Railway has started, and is expected to be completed and open to traffic by the end of 2020.
Zhanjiang urban architecture. Graphic/Graphic Creativity However, the expected completion and opening of the train did not come as scheduled, and even the construction has not started substantively, which has also become a worry for many local people. The reason is that the adjustment of project design technical standards is the key.
In May 2018, according to the new situation that the country has upgraded the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area into a national strategy, the Development and Reform Commissions of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and regions jointly issued a letter to the former China Railway Corporation, requesting the construction of the Hefei Zhanjiang Railway according to the technical standard of 350 km/h.
In 2019, the original China Railway Corporation also organized a feasibility study review meeting for the adjustment of the new Hepu Zhanjiang Railway, further improving the design standard to 350 km/h passenger dedicated line. In the same year, the social stability risk analysis project of the new Hepu Zhanjiang Railway was announced. The two governments mentioned several times to accelerate the construction of the Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway, but the construction has not been substantively started.
As for the construction progress of Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway, Huang Yining, chief engineer of China Railway Nanning Bureau Group Co., Ltd., said publicly that the key is the continuous adjustment of the scheme. "At first it was just an ordinary railway, then it became a high-speed railway with a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, and later it was adjusted to 250 kilometers per hour. Now, we are working hard at 350 kilometers per hour according to the latest plan," he said.
At the same time, in response to the "Suggestions on Accelerating the Construction of Hefei Zhanjiang Railway" issued by the local CPPCC member, in September 2019, the Beihai Transportation Bureau mentioned that the main reason why the project has not actually started construction is that Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and regions have made many adjustments to the project design technical standards according to the changes in the development pattern of the surrounding railway network, which has affected the project route The land acquisition area, environmental assessment, investment quota, etc. have all had a significant impact. It takes some time to re demonstrate and re report to the National Development and Reform Commission for approval.
In the following years, Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway frequently appeared in various local documents and meetings, and related projects were successively included in the list of major projects in Guangxi, Guangdong, Beihai and Zhanjiang, and even the news of construction commencement was reported from time to time. Hepu County and Zhanjiang City also issued advance announcements on land acquisition (recovery), but there has been no substantive progress.
2023 can be said to be an important time node for the planning and construction of Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway. According to the reply of the Department of Transportation of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in May 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission approved the feasibility study report on the adjustment of Zhanjiang Railway. In September of the same year, the State Railway Group reviewed the preliminary design documents and is carrying out the revision of the preliminary design.
In terms of environmental impact assessment, the Department of Transport of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said that on April 3, 2024, the State Railway Group organized a review meeting, and the design institute has now improved the environmental impact assessment report according to expert opinions 。 It mentioned that "Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province has different opinions on the line scheme", "the Ministry of Ecology and Environment is expected to reply to the EIA by July 30, 2024" and other contents mentioned above.
With regard to the next work plan, the Department of Transport of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said that it would strengthen the reporting and connection, promote the environmental assessment of the project to be approved as soon as possible, and coordinate with China Railway Group to carry out the preliminary design approval, construction drawing review, construction bidding and other work as soon as possible, and strive to start work within the year.
It is understood that in the government work reports of Guangxi and Guangdong this year, the construction of Hefei Zhanjiang high-speed railway will be started this year. However, judging from the current progress, the Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway "stuck" in the EIA link has a lot of work and procedures to be completed before the official commencement, and more efforts may be required to achieve "commencement within the year".
Yang Hao, a professor at the School of Transportation of Beijing Jiaotong University, told China News Weekly that environmental impact assessment is a very important link before the commencement of the project. "If the environmental impact assessment is not passed, the high-speed railway cannot be built". According to him, after the EIA is approved, many procedures still need to be followed before the official commencement. As for the length of the cycle, Yang Hao said, "It depends on how the work is done, which is related to the efforts of all parties."
New opportunities in Beihai and Zhanjiang?
According to the First Environmental Impact Assessment Information Disclosure of the Newly built Hepu Zhanjiang Railway released by the Beihai Municipal Government in June 2023, the Hepu Zhanjiang railway line is led from Hepu Station to Zhanjiang West Station via Tieshangang Bay, Baisha Town, Shankou Town, Qingping Town, Hengshan Town and Suixi County in the east. The new main line is about 141.7 kilometers long, and Beihai interconnection line The connecting line from Zhanjiang North to Zhanjiang West is about 33.3 km in total; The number of main lines is double track, with a maximum speed of 350 km/h; The construction period is 4 years.
With the continuous improvement of standards, the positioning of Hefei Zhanjiang high-speed railway is becoming higher and higher. In 2019, Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway was included in the National High speed Railway Network Plan as an important part of the "sea channel". Later, Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway was included in the National "14th Five Year Plan" for the Development of Modern Comprehensive Transportation System, and positioned as an important part of Shanghai Hepu Coastal High speed Railway via Ningbo.
As an important part of the high-speed railway channel of the two countries, many local people have great expectations for the commencement of the construction of Hefei Zhanjiang high-speed railway.
North Sea coast and dock scenery. Graphic/Graphic Creativity Huang Yining mentioned earlier that Hefei Zhanjiang Railway is expected not only by Beihai and Zhanjiang people, but also by Nanning people. He said, "Now it takes more than six hours to travel from Nanning to Zhanjiang by train or ordinary speed train, and the number of trains is small, which is really inconvenient."
In addition, it is understood that Beihai people can only take the bullet train to Guangzhou at present, which takes nearly 6 hours; There is no direct train to Shenzhen. You can only go to Guangzhou first and then transfer to the city railway, or change to Nanning first. However, there is no direct train from Beihai to Zhanjiang, and it only takes about 3 hours by bus.
It is predicted that it will only take about 30 minutes from Beihai to Zhanjiang and 2.5 hours to Guangzhou after the completion and opening of the Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway; It only takes about 2 hours from Nanning to Zhanjiang. In the opinion of insiders, this will greatly shorten the space and time distance between Guangxi and Guangdong coastal areas, and promote personnel exchanges, resource complementarity, industrial cooperation and cultural exchanges between the two provinces.
The relevant planning also mentioned that the Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway is of great significance and role in expanding the transport capacity of Guangdong and Guangxi coastal railways, optimizing and improving the regional railway network layout, promoting the economic complementarity and coordinated development of Guangxi Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, Beibu Gulf urban agglomeration, western Guangdong and Hainan, and undertaking the westward migration of Pearl River Delta industries.
Yang Hao pointed out that after the high-speed railway connection, the people flow and logistics links between the two cities will become more close and convenient, and the construction needs and development needs in all aspects will also be driven up. "If the industrial layout is well done in all aspects, it will certainly help the development of the two cities".
As the node cities of this high-speed railway line, Beihai and Zhanjiang are the most direct beneficiaries.
The starting point of the Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway, Beihai, is located at the southern end of Guangxi, on the northeast coast of the Beibu Gulf, at the center of the Pan Beibu Gulf Economic Cooperation Zone. It is an important constituent city of the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, with a GDP of 175.091 billion yuan in 2023.
Zhanjiang, the destination of the Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway, is located at the southern end of the mainland of China, bordering the South China Sea in the east, the Beibu Gulf in the west, Maoming in the north, and Hainan across the Qiongzhou Strait in the south. It is the central city of western Guangdong and the Beibu Gulf urban agglomeration, and also the provincial sub central city planned and constructed by Guangdong. Its GDP will reach 379.359 billion yuan in 2023.
Ding Li, an economics researcher from the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, mentioned to China News Weekly that in history, the development of Beihai and Zhanjiang regions was closely linked, but in recent years, the inconvenience of transportation has made the connection between the two regions not high.
Ding Li said that at present, Zhanjiang has been given the position of provincial sub central city, and related resources and projects will be further concentrated. As the central city of the Beibu Gulf and western Guangdong, Zhanjiang will bring some radiation and drive to the adjacent areas. After the completion of the Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway, the value of Zhanjiang as an important hub and transportation node at the southernmost end of mainland China will be gradually reflected.
Niu Fengrui, a former researcher of the Institute of Urban Development and Environment of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Newsweek that although Beihai and Zhanjiang are both small cities now, they are important parts of the coastal urban agglomeration in the Beibu Gulf. If high-speed railway is connected, it will definitely be a good thing for the development of these two cities.
Zhanjiang was once the second largest city in Guangdong, but in the tide of reform and opening up, it was gradually surpassed by the sister cities in the province. In 2023, Zhanjiang's GDP will rank ninth in Guangdong. In this regard, Beihai and Zhanjiang can be called "brothers in distress". As one of the first coastal cities to open up to the outside world, Beihai once stood on the same line as other coastal cities in reform and opening up. However, in the 1990s, due to the impact of the real estate bubble, Beihai gradually lost its former glory. In 2023, Beihai's GDP will rank seventh in Guangxi.
According to the analysis, the Hefei Zhanjiang Railway will help Beihai implement the development strategy of "east integration", and make Beihai more prominent as a transportation hub in the Beibu Gulf urban agglomeration. Although Beihai and Zhanjiang belong to two provinces, they are geographically close, culturally friendly, and have huge space for cooperation. Achieving high-speed rail connectivity may be a new opportunity for both cities.
Niu Fengrui mentioned that Beihai and Zhanjiang are rich in land space and production space. In the future, it has certain advantages to undertake the industrial spillovers from the Pearl River Delta or the Great Bay Area. The Hefei Zhanjiang High speed Railway will open up the transportation channel between Beihai and Guangxi to the east and the Great Bay Area, which is of positive significance to the economic, social development, cultural exchanges, as well as regional economic cooperation and industrial cooperation between the two places.
Author: Sun Xiaobo
Editor in charge: Liu Guangbo
