Guangzhou will further enhance its functions as an international business center and comprehensive transportation hub, boost the interconnection of infrastructure with surrounding areas, and build a new transportation system for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to Peng Gaofeng, head of the city's planning and natural resources bureau.

Guangzhou Urban Planning Exhibition Center. [Photo/gz.gov.cn]

The southern Chinese metropolis will proactively carry out planning studies on the high-speed rail link from Hong Kong to downtown Guangzhou, and promote the integration of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang, Guangzhou-Heyuan, Guangzhou-Yongzhou, Guangzhou-Zhongshan-Zhuhai-Macao high-speed railway lines into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Inter-city Railway Construction Plan.

The plan to link downtown Guangzhou to Hong Kong has aroused much public attention, as it will offer greater convenience for citizens in the downtown area who currently need to travel 20 kilometers to board trains at Guangzhou South Railway Station. 

If the high-speed railway station is too far from the downtown area, it may have little impact on long-distance passengers, but the attraction to medium- and short-haul passengers will be greatly weakened, thus undermining the crucial role of high-speed rail in the construction of the city cluster, according to experts. 

The specific location for the high-speed railway station linking Guangzhou’s downtown to Hong Kong has yet been released. According to the Guangzhou Comprehensive Transportation Hub Overall Planning (2018-2035), the city will build Guangzhou Rail Station and Guangzhou East Railway Station into central stations and add new lines connecting the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Beijing-Guangzhou High Speed Railway with these central stations.