High-speed rail opens up line of prosperity
New Shenzhen-Xiamen bullet train links three important economic hubs for first time, as well as making business trips and holidays much easier
The new high-speed railway between Shenzhen and Xiamen opened yesterday, slicing the journey from an area many Hongkongers call home to the southeast coast from 15 hours to just 3-1/2 hours.
More than 21.4 million people live in the areas of Chaozhou and Shantou (known collectively as Chaoshan). Many Hongkongers, including Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, hail from the area.
The new train line, with 18 stations, also connects the Pearl River Delta, with a population of 140 million, with Fujian province, with a population of more than 37 million. Guangdong officials said travel from any place in the delta to Fujian would now take less than four hours.
The new line also connects with another high-speed line from Xiamen to Shanghai, linking for the first time the three important economic hubs of the Pearl River Delta, the proposed western Taiwan straits economic zone, and the Yangtze River Delta.
Twenty-six trains will depart from Shenzhen daily to different destinations including Xiamen, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou . Travel time from Shenzhen to Xiamen will be cut from 15 hours to 31/2. Two trains will run daily between Guangzhou and the new Chaoshan station built between Chaozhou and Shantou.
