Transportation

Road & Highway

According to the annual Statistical Communiqué on Hunan's Economic and Social Development, by the end of 2023, the mileage of roads opened to traffic was 243,000 kilometers, an increase of 0.2% over the end of previous year. Among them, the mileage of expressways opened to traffic increased by 200 kilometers to 7,530 kilometers. The operating mileage of railways totaled 6,078.6 kilometers, equal to the figure of the previous year. Among them, the high-speed railway mileage reached 2,501 kilometers.

There are 25 expressway accesses to adjacent provinces. All expressway toll booths at provincial borders were cancelled. A two-hour province-wide high-speed railway transport circle has been developed, and Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou can be reached within 5, 4, 3, and 2 hours. All of the Hunan’s 122 counties and cities can connect with expressways in half an hour.

Ports

Hunan is a water province, centering on the Dongting Lake and including the Xiangjiang, Zijiang, Yuanjiang and Lishui trunk rivers. A complex water network links up the whole province. Total inland waterway mileage hit 12,000 km, ranking third nationwide. The thousand-ton-and-above waterways reached 1,139 km, with 112 thousand-ton-and-above berths.  

The Chenglingji Port in Yueyang is the only deepwater harbor connecting the rivers and the seas along Yangtze River in Hunan Province. The seagoing vessels with a capacity of 10,000 tons can go directly to the port. Up to 2025, the port’s designed annual container throughput will reach 800,000 FEUs, making it a competitive leading port along the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River over Chongqing and Wuhan. It also has direct routes to Hong Kong and Macao, and can transfer to maritime transport to ASEAN countries and Australia.  

Chenglingji Port of Yueyang has been officially included in the first batch of designated ports for imported grain in China, and was the first authorized finished vehicles import port in central China, with its first batch of vehicles being approved for licensing on March 1st, 2016.

Changsha New Port has seven regional branch routes for international containers, and has initiated over 10 international routes to Korea, Japan, West of America, Europe, Australia, Africa, East of South America, and Mediterranean. The port has over 40 liners for import and export of international containers. As they enter the Xiangjiang River, freights are shipped to base ports all over the world via Shanghai port in Yangtze River. In this manner, an advantageous waterway network system, spreading globally and reaching various rivers and oceans, is established covering over 60% of load/ unload of containers in regional branch routes of Changsha and central Hunan. Within the single July of 2013, the container throughput of the port reaches 9,725, a year-on-year growth of 20%. Currently, the third phase of construction is under progress in Changsha New Port, whose annual throughput is expected to reach 10 million tons after the implementation.

Aviation

In 2023, Hunan's airports have handled 32.111 million passenger trips and 250,000 flights, making a year-on-year increase of 120% and 75% respectively. The annual cargo throughput amounted to 177,000 tonnes, up 14% over the previous year.  

 
Changsha Huanghua Airport is 24.2 kilometers east to the center of Changsha City, near to Huanghua Town of Changsha County. It opened to traffic in 1989, and was renamed Changsha Huanghua International Airport in 1993. Since the opening of the first all-cargo route in 2017, Changsha has launched a cumulative total of 24 routes linking with five continents and dovetailing with the EU, the U.S.A, and ASEAN. In April 2024, Hunan's first fifth-freedom freight air route—Addis Ababa-Liège-Changsha-Addis Ababa route—opened to traffic.

Since 2023, Changsha airport has resumed 18 international and regional passenger routes to Nairobi, London, Singapore, Seoul, and Kuala Lumpur; and, has secured stable operation of central China's only China-Africa passenger air route. In 2023, Changsha Airport has handled record 27.248 million passenger trips, and 200,800 flights, topping the airports in central China for three consecutive years.

Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport opened to air traffic in 1994, and was renamed Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport in 2017. It opened first all-cargo international route in April 2021.

Zhangjiajie's inbound tourism market has continued to recover following the resumption of international flight services after the epidemic. Increasingly frequent inbound and outbound flights are being operated on an expanded international air route network. As of October 2024, the Zhangjiajie airport operates passenger flights to 13 destinations in such countries and regions as South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia, Malaysia, and Hong Kong SAR, with more than 80 flights handled every week on average. 

Changde Taohuayuan Airport opened its first direct flight to Bangkok in December 2019, and thus became Hunan's third international airport. In 2023, it has handled 809,900 passenger trips and 8,157 flights, respectively increasing by 55.36% and 23.55% over the previous year.

Hengyang Nanyue Airport opened to air traffic in December 2014. It operates 15 air routes, linking 25 domestic destinations. In 2023, it has handled 9,204 flights, 891,000 passenger trips, and 336 tonnes of cargos, respectively rising 41.9%, 113.7%, and 130.9% year on year.

Yueyang Sanhe Airport was officially opened to traffic in December 2018. As of 2022 summer, eight airlines have operated 15 air routes based on this airport, linking with 21 domestic cities.

Chenzhou Beihu Airport officially opened to air traffic on September 16, 2021. In 2023, it has handled more than 400,000 passenger trips, a record high since its opening. Beginning from early 2023, it has collaborated with six airlines, operating seven round-trip routes and linking to 11 domestic destinations.

Huaihua Zhijiang Airport has opened eight air routes linking to 12 domestic cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Sanya, Lijiang, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Kunming, Haikou, Shenzhen, Taiyuan, and Guangzhou, as of February 2024.

Railway

Hunan has a developed railway system. Seven main railway lines – Jingguang (Beijing-Guangzhou), Hukun (Shanghai-Kunming), Xiangqian (Zhuzhou-Guiyang), Zhegan (Hangzhou-Zhuzhou), Xianggui (Hunan-Guangxi), Shichang (Shimenxian-Changsha), and Jiaoliu (Jiaozuo-Liuzhou) railways, pass through the province.

During the 13th Five-year Plan period, Hunan has built 991 km of new railway. The total mileage of operational railway reached 5,582 km, among which the mileage of high-speed railway was 1,986 km, ranking third nationwide. Twelve cities and prefecture can be reached through railway.

The north-south Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway, a key part of Chinese "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed railway network, and the world's longest high-speed rail, runs through Hunan. Its Wuhan-Guangzhou section (Wuguang High-speed Railway) opened to traffic in December 2009. It shortened the journey from Changsha to Wuhan to one hour, to Guangzhou two hours, and to Beijing five hours. 

Hukun (Shanghai to Kunming) High-speed Railway went into operation on December, 2014. It reduced travel time between Changsha and Shanghai to 4 hours and 26 minutes, and that between Changsha and Hangzhou to 3 hours and 38 minutes.

Yuchangxia (Chongqing-Changsha-Xiamen) High-speed Railway, a part of Chinese "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" railway network, has three sections in Hunan – Qianjiang (Chongqing)-Zhangjiajie-Changde, Chengde-Yiyang-Changsha, and Changsha-Ganzhou (Jiangxi Province). The Changsha-Ganjiang section is on preliminaries. The Qianjiang-Zhangjiajie-Changde section started trial operation in November, 2019.  

The Zhangjiajie-Jishou-Huaihua (Zhangjihuai) High-speed Railway opened to traffic on December 6, 2021. Hence, the travel time between Zhangjiajie and Changsha is shortened to 2.5 hours. It is a regional link in China’s "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed rail network. It starts from western Hunan, linking with Qianjiang-Zhangjiajie High-speed Railway in the north and Shanghai-Kunming High-speed and Huaihua-Shaoyang-Hengyang railways in the south. The railway connects several well-known scenic areas, such as Wulingyuan, Tianmen Mountain, Furong Town, Aizhai Grand Bridge, and Fenghuang Ancient Town, and is thus reputed as the “most beautiful high-speed railway in western Hunan”.

Rail Transit

As of April 2024, Hunan has six metro lines and two maglev lines in operation, and one metro line under construction. All the metro lines are in Changsha.

Changsha Metro Line 1 began operation in June 2016. It starts from Kaifu District Government Station in the north, and ends up at Shangshuangtang Station in the south. There are 20 stations along the line, including 19 underground ones and one elevated station. It is designed with 7 transfer stations, linking to the operational line 2, 3, 4, 6, CZT Intercity Railway, and the planned line 8.

The Metro Line 1 North Extension Phase I opened to traffic on June 28, 2024. This section starts from Kaifu District Government Station in the south, stretching along Furong North Road to Shahe Parking Lot in the north. Five stations are set up along the 9.88-kilometer section, including 2 elevated and 3 underground ones.  

Changsha Metro Line 2 opened to traffic in April 2014. It runs through 3 passenger hubs of the city (the West Station of Changsha, Changsha Railway Station, and Changsha South Railway Station) and connects Yuelu District, Tianxin District, Furong District, Yuhua District, and Changsha County. There are 19 stations along the 21.926-km line, including 9 transfer stations linking to line 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and the Maglev Line.

The Metro Line 2 westward extension began operation at the end of 2015, extending from Wangchengpo Station to Meixi Lake area, with a length of about 4.45 km.

The entire length of Metro Line 2, including its westward extension, is located underground. 

Changsha Metro Line 3 started trial operation in June 2020. It runs from southwest to northeast, with a total length of 36.5 kilometers. There are 25 stations (all located underground) in total, including 5 transfer stations which links to metro line 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6. It connects Yuelu, Tianxin, Yuhua, Furong, Kaifu Districts, and Changsha County.

The Metro Line 3 has seamless connection with the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan (CZT) Intercity Railway West Ring Line, enabling a remarkable reduction in commuting time between Changsha and Xiangtan to just 20 minutes. Beginning operation in June 2023, the west ring line is 17.29 kilometers in length, with eight stations set up along the line.

Changsha Metro Line 4 opened to trial operation in May 2019. It is 33.5 kilometers long, connecting Wangcheng, Yuelu, Tianxin, Yuhua Districts, and Changsha County. There are 25 stations along the line, all of which are located underground. It has 8 transfer stations, connecting with line 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and the CZT Intercity Railway.

Changsha Metro Line 5 started trial operation in June 2020. It is a north-south trunk line in the east of the Changsha's main urban area network. With a total length of 22.5 kilometers, it runs through Yuhua, Furong and Kaifu Districts, and Changsha County. There are 18 stations along the line, including 4 transfer stations linking to line 2, 3, 4, and 6.

Changsha Metro Line 6 started operation in June 2022. It is the longest metro line in Changsha, and the first line connecting to the airport. With a total length of 48.1 kilometers, it has 34 stations along the line, including 6 operational transfer stations connecting to line 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.

Changsha Metro Line 7 is under construction and will begin operation in 2027.