Greater Bay Area plans maglev train at 650km/h

The city of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong are planning a high-speed maglev train route with designed speed of 650 km per hour, said an expert at a forum held in Guanghzou, Guangdong province, on Aug 5.

The maglev train plan aims to build a 30-minute traffic circle among the three cities, and a 40-minute one among other cities of the Greater Bay Area, said Chen Xiangsheng, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and dean of the College of Civil and Transportation Engineering at Shenzhen University, Guangdong province, Guangzhou Daily reported on Monday.

The passenger flow density of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong will reach 260 million people by 2035, thus a new high-speed project is a necessity to this area, Chen said.

The academician introduced four options for the Greater Bay Area maglev line, with departure stations at Guangzhou including the Guangzhoudong Railway Station, Zhujiang New Town Station, and Guangzhou Railway Station.

Option one includes stopovers at Guangzhoudong Railway Station, Dongguan Guancheng, and Shenzhen Honey Lake, which is the favorable option among the four candidates, he said, adding that all four options are reserved for northern extension to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and southern extension to Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Besides Guangzhou and Shenzhen, other cities including Shanghai and Hangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing are also planning for maglev lines, Chen said.

"Promoting smart transportation and realizing convenient, efficient, safe and economical transportation to support the construction of the Greater Bay Area are in line with the requirements of high-quality economic development and building a world-class Bay area," the academician added.