Several rail transit projects of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan (CZT) Metropolitan Area have been approved by related national authorities, announced by the Hunan Development and Reform Commission on January 28, 2023.

Ten rail transit projects are planned to be launched recently, with an estimated length of 376 kilometers and total investment of 96.3 billion CNY. 

The CZT Metropolitan Area will accelerate constructing a multilayer outer ring rail transit system composed of trunk railways, intercity railways, regional railways, and urban railways.

The tasks related to trunk railways include: constructing the Changsha-Ganzhou Railway; constructing the Yunnan-Guizhou-Xiamen connection line and the connection line between the Changsha West and South Railway Stations, and preparing for connecting with the connection line of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, which will connect the Changsha-Ganzhou Railway with the Beijing-Guangzhou and Shanghai-Kunming high-speed railways; and, studying and planning the Changsha-Jiujiang Railway.

The work related to intercity railways include: constructing the Changsha-Zhuzhou Intercity Railway; and, studying and planning the connection lines linking the CZT Intercity Railway and the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-speed Railway, and the connection line between Muyun Railway Station and Xiangtan North Station.

The regional railways are: regional railway connecting Changsha and Ningxiang urban and suburban areas; and the Changsha-Liuyang Regional Railway Huanghua Airport-Liuyang section which will connect with the Changsha Maglev Line. These two railways will start construction within this year.

Besides, intercity railways between Changsha and Xiangtan, Yueyang, and Hengyang, and extensions of CZT Intercity Railway, are included in the long-term plan.

In accordance with the overall plan, by 2027, the rail transit system in the CZT metropolitan area will reach a total length of about 1,460 kilometers and cover all areas with a population of over 100,000. A one-hour commuting circle linking the main urban areas of Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan and important towns and townships around will basically take shape. The travel time to the main cities of neighboring provinces and the city clusters of the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will be 1.5 to 3 hours.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn