Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway

The idea of constructing a railway linking Canton (now Guangzhou) and Kowloon in Hong Kong, a British crown colony germinated in the late Qing dynasty. In 1899, Britain and the Qing government agreed to construct the Kowloon–Canton railway (KCR, also known as Canton-Kowloon Railway), but Britain postponed the construction as Britain was busy at the Second Boer War in Africa. In 1907, Qing government and Britain formally signed an agreement in Peking on issuing a £100-million bond as part of loan for the construction of the Chinese section of the Kowloon–Canton railway. In July 1907, construction of the British Section of the KCR began. The construction of Chinese section was delayed and only started in 1909. Under the loan contract, China needed to employ the British engineers for the construction of Chinese section, but China still employed famous Chinese railway engineer, Zhan Tianyou, as a consultant. On 8 October 1911, the Chinese section of KCR with total length of 142.77 km (88.71 mi) was opened.[1] The northern end of railway at that time was located in Dashatou (大沙頭), Guangzhou, was demolished in 1951. The through train service between Kowloon and Guangzhou also started to operate at the same time.

After the establishment of People's Republic of China in October 1949, the 'Chinese section of the Canton–Kowloon railway' was renamed 'Guangshen railway', and repairs were made to sections of the railroad damaged during the war. In 1967, railway department carried out a comprehensive maintenance on Guangshen railway to improve the transport capacity. Beginning in the 1980s economic reform policies of China, the establishment of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and rapid economic development in the Pearl River Delta region has brought large volume of imported goods and increased passenger demand to the railway. Therefore, the second line of Guangshen Railway was constructed during 1984 to 1987 in order to meet the huge demand. Simultaneously Guangshen Railway Company (the predecessor of Guangshen Railway Company), which was directly subordinated to the Guangzhou Railway Bureau (now Guangzhou Railway Group), was established. This company was in charge of the construction projects and operational management of Guangshen Railway. In 1987, Guangshen railway became the first double-track railway in Guangdong province.

• 
  Bond agreement signed in 1907
• 
  Foundation ceremony of the Chinese Section of KCR in 1909. Group photo of both Chinese and British officials.

Indeed, Guangshen railway is the first place in China to carry out successfully speed-up on the existing railroad. At the beginning of the 1990s, Guangzhou Railway Bureau and the Ministry of Railways carried out the pre-feasibility research about raising the maximum speed of passenger trains to 160 km/h (99 mph). At 28 December 1991, the construction of the third line of Guangshen railway, and the speed-up improvement works of original double tracks started. In October 1994, the maximum speed of a train reached 174 km/h (108 mph) during the test. At 22 December 1994, the first sub-high speed (160 km/h (99 mph)) passenger train in China started commercial operation between Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Fourth track of Guangshen railway under construction

In 1998, the electrification of two sub-high speed lines of Guangshen railway was finished. After the improvement the 200 km/h (124 mph) high speed trains are allowed to run on the existing subhigh speed railroad. A Swedish-built X 2000 tilting train called 'Xinshisu' began to serve intercity train service between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as the through train to Hong Kong. The train are 165m long, consisting of a power car, five passenger cars, and a trailing car. The non-power cars can have a pitch of up to 8 degrees. They are noted for being very quiet (less than 65 dBA) even at 200 km/h (124 mph).

Construction of the fourth track was commenced at 31 December 2005, and was finished at 18 April 2007 in time for the Sixth Speed-Up Campaign. Since then Guangshen railway has been the first four-track railway in mainland China and it allows passenger trains and freight trains to run on separate lines.

Tickets of intercity trains

CRH1A running on Guangshen railway

As of 2007, intercity train service between Guangzhou and Shenzhen uses 8-car CRH1A highspeed EMU. There are 100 pairs of trains operated daily, in which 98 pairs will stop for 1.5 minutes at three stations: Zhangmutou, Dongguan and Shilong. On the 'As-frequent-as-buses' basis, one pair of trains is dispatched every 5 minutes on average during peak hours. The fastest journey time is 52 minutes between Guangzhou East and Shenzhen for D7002 and D7008 with no stop.

Rolling stock

Time	Rolling stocks using by Guangshen intercity trains
Before 1966	SL6 steam locomotive hauling 21 Series / 22 Series railway carriages
1966–mid-1970s	SL6 steam locomotive / Dongfanghong1 / DF diesel locomotive (from 1972) hauling 21 Series / 22 Series railway carriage Dongfanghong1 / DF diesel locomotive(from 1972) hauling 24 Series railway carriages with air-conditioning (91/92 Express)
1970s–late 1994	Locomotives: DF3 / ND2 / DF4B (from 1985) / DF9 diesel locomotive(from 1990s) Passenger coaches: 24 Series with air-conditioning / 25 Series / 22 Series / 22 Series railway carriages with air-conditioning
Late 1994–1998	Locomotives:DF4B / DF9 / DF11 diesel locomotive Passenger coaches:22 Series / Double-deck 25B Series with air-conditioning / 25Z Series
1998–2004	DF4B diesel locomotive hauling 22 Series / Double-deck 25B Series with air-conditioning / SS8 electric locomotive / DF11 diesel locomotive hauling 25Z Series / 25C Series railway carriage DDJ1 EMU(1999–2000) Xianfenghao EMU(2001) X2000 tilting train DJJ1 EMU (Blue Arrow)(from 2001)
2004–2006	DF4B diesel locomotive hauling Double-deck 25B Series with air-conditioning / SS8 electric locomotive / DF11 diesel locomotive hauling 25Z Series / 25C Series railway carriage X2000 tilting train / DJJ1 EMU (Blue Arrow)
2007–	DF11 diesel locomotive hauling 25Z Series railway carriage (Until 25 April 2007) DF4B diesel locomotive hauling Double-deck 25B Series with air-conditioning (Until 30 June 2007) DJJ1 EMU (Blue Arrow) (Until 25 April 2007) CRH1A EMU (from 1 February 2007) CR200J (from year 2023)

In year 2023 summer season, CR200J train serves additional service (Train D9756, D9757) in Friday and Sunday holiday peak hours.

Occasional use of CRH2A EMU train (probably 1 departure daily for each direction, if in use) for the Guangzhou East to Chaoshan/Shantou service as observed in June 2023.

There are services of EMUs using Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway as part of the route. Daily trains are offered between Guangzhou East Railway Station and Chaoshan Railway Station, a few of them will continue to Shantou Railway Station; in addition, starting from 1 July 2018, one departure serving the Guangzhou East to Chaoshan service will continue to Xiamen, and vice versa; these service are still available according to the railway timetable with effective from 11 October 2023.

Starting 10 July 2019 to 10 October 2023, there was a daily service between Shenzhen Railway Station and Huaiji Railway Station on Guiyang-Guangzhou HSR,[2] which is the first utilizing the whole Guangzhou-Shenzhen line in full as part of the route; however, according to the new railway timetable effective from 11 October 2023, such direct train service no longer exist.

Since not later than 26 June 2021, more EMU trains are available for service between Xiamen (or Xiamen North Station) and Guangzhou, at which two of them (using Xiamen North Station at the time of writing in June 2023) will continue to Nanning East Station.[3][4] CRH2A EMU trains are in use for service between Xiamen North and Nanning.[5] However, with effective from 11 October 2023 the captioned trains, formerly from Fujian heading to Guangxi province, are shorten to serve only between Fujian province and Guangzhou city.

Memory: D3653/D3652 train, served by CRH2A EMU, made a stop at Dongguan station, after departing from Nanpingshi (some 35km from Wuyishan) via Fuzhou, Xiamen North, and Shenzhen North stations, and after Dongguan station the train will continue to Guangzhou via Guang-Shen line, and the final destination for D3653/D3652 is Nanning East station at the time of writing in year 2023. This photo was taken in 30 June 2023. For opposite direction train number is D3651/D3654. IMPORTANT: According to the official "Train 12306" app, train number D3653/D3652 will still serve the above-mentioned stations by CRH2A train, except that the train will NOT stop at Dongguan station since 1 July 2023

Train serving Xiamen (North) - Guangzhou - Nanning (East) service.[6] It's CRH2A EMU serving train number D3655/D3658 from Nanning (East) station...

...to Xiamenbei Station (see the final destination as shown on the display board of the train), which means Xiamen (North) station. For opposite direction train number is D3657/D3656

Since 15 January 2022, train departures are available between Guangzhou East station and Ganzhou West railway station, with a pair of departures using CRH380A EMU trains,[7] at which train G2775/G2778 departs from Guangzhou East station, and train G2777/G2776 departs from Ganzhou West station, as at June 2023 this service serves Dongguan station as well; in addition, another pair for the Guangzhou East to Ganzhou West service was added since 11 October 2022, with train number D1695/D1698 and D1697/D1696, [8] at which CRH1E-250 train is in use as at June 2023.

CRH380A train serving train G2775 from Guangzhou East station and stopping at Dongguan station as at June 2023

For CRH2A EMU trains running on the entire Guangzhou-Shenzhen line fully, since not later than year 2023, EMU train service is previously available between Shenzhen Station (the one near the Hong Kong border) and Liuzhou via Guangzhou, at which CRH2A EMU train is in use for this daily service (numbered D3665/D3666); however, with effective from 11 October 2023, train number D3665/D3666 no longer serves Shenzhen and Dongguan, and for Guangzhou the train stops at Guangzhou South Station instead.

In June 2023, CRH2A EMU train serves Shenzhen Station by running the train number D3666 (from Shenzhen to Liuzhou at that moment)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway.

• China Railway
• List of railway lines in China
• Rail transport in China
• Kowloon–Canton Railway
• Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link
• Guangzhou–Shanwei high-speed railway

• Guangshen Railway (official site)
• MTR Intercity Passenger Services