China’s US$68 billion Greater Bay Area rail plan for faster, easier city links

China will invest 474.1 billion yuan (US$67.9 billion) to improve rail connection in the Greater Bay Area, building 775km (480 miles) of intercity railway and five transport hubs, according to a plan approved by the National Development and Reform Commission.

In recent years the scheme has been gradually rolled out with the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the Hong Kong-Guangzhou high-speed train, as well as inter-region cooperation on other infrastructure projects, education and scientific research.

The connectivity programme, which was approved on July 30 by the NDRC, China’s top economic planning agency, is intended to cover all cities in the area above county level with 5,700km of railway by 2035. By then, passengers would be able to commute between major cities in the Greater Bay Area within an hour, major cities to smaller cities within two hours, and major cities to capitals in surrounding provinces within three hours, according to the plan.

Under the scheme, transport hubs will be built within cities, connecting airports, train stations and linking intercity rail systems with inner city transport. Hong Kong and Macau would also be better integrated into the regional grid, the plan said.

Currently, connectivity was limited in the region, said Guo Wanda, executive vice-president of the China Development Institute, a Shenzhen-based think tank.

“There are still too few [railway] lines between cities, it’s inconvenient to switch from railways to subways and other services [in different cities] – including ticketing and road signs – are not integrated,” he said.

Under the new plan, small and medium-sized cities would be better connected, instead of being overshadowed by major cities, said Huo Weidong, who has a doctorate from the Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Development Studies at the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.