Monday, November 17, 2008

Jingjiu Railway was Completed

Jingjiu Railway was completedJingjiu Railway was completed on 16. November 1995. Jingjiu Railway (also known as Beijing-Kowloon Railway, Beijing-Kowloon Line) is a railway in the People's Republic of China connecting Beijing West Station in Beijing to Shenzhen Station in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. It then follows the rail-link between Shenzhen to the special administrative region of Hong Kong to Hung Hom Station (Kowloon Station) in Kowloon.

It is a dual-track railway. Construction began in February 1993. It was opened in 1996, connecting Beijing and Kowloon through Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi and Guangdong, with a length of 2397 kilometres. It has 790 bridges and 160 tunnels. The Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, at a length of 7,679 metres, is the longest across the Yangtze River. Located between Jinghu Railway (Beijing-Shanghai) and Jingguang Railway (Beijing-Guangzhou), it was built to alleviate the congested Jingguang Railway, and to foster development in the areas to the east of Jingguang Railway.

The idea had been proposed for a long time, and some of the sections, such as the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, were built before construction of the whole line official began. Some were converted from existing sections, such as between Jiujiang and Nanchang, and Fouyang and Shangqiu.

It shares the same route with the Guangmeishan Railway (Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou Railway) between Longchuan and Dongguan. It joins the Guangshen Railway (Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway, formerly the Chinese Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway) at Dongguan, and follows the same route. Within Hong Kong, it shares the same pair of tracks with the East Rail Line (formerly British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway).

Beijing-Kowloon Through Train services are currently provided on the Jingguang Railway and Guangshen Railway, instead of the Jingjiu Railway. Passengers are required to go through customs and immigration checks for the cross-border service.

Originally Posted: China Business Daily
Author: Angulo Fu