Guangdong–Hainan railway
Railway between Haikou railway station and South Port
Overview
Other name(s)Yuehai railway
Native name粤海铁路
StatusOperational
OwnerChina Railway
LocaleSouth China between Guangdong and Hainan
Termini
Stations3
Service
TypeTrain ferry connection
Services1
Operator(s)CR Guangzhou
Rolling stockCR DF4DD
History
Opened7 January 2003 (2003-01-07)[1]
Technical
Number of tracks4
CharacterSea crossing
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electrification25 kV AC overhead line

The Guangdong–Hainan railway or Yuehai railway (Chinese: 粤海铁路; pinyin: Yuè-Hǎi tiělù)[2] is a railway that operates from Haikou railway station in Hainan, via South Port, a few hundred metres north-west on the coast, and the Qiongzhou Strait ferry, to Zhanjiang, at the tip of the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong, and then north into Guangdong.

Yuehai Railway Ferry

The Yuehai Railway Ferry (Chinese: 粤海铁路轮渡; pinyin: Yuè-Hǎi tiělù lúndù) is a train and vehicle ferry connecting the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Hainan. The ferry service runs across the Qiongzhou Strait, between Zhanjiang and South Port, just north-west of Haikou railway station.

When ferries containing railway cars arrive at South Port from Zhanjiang, passengers not travelling in railway cars disembark. The passenger cars are run off the ferries and a locomotive is attached, which takes the train to the Haikou railway station. There, the passengers exit the cars and leave the station, or they can connect to the Hainan eastern ring high-speed railway. Freight trains also use the ferry service and travel through Haikou railway station onto the Hainan western ring railway, and to other locations in Hainan, such as Dongfang.

The line has operated since January 2003, carrying both freight and passenger trains, enabling direct train service between the mainland and the cities of Haikou and Sanya on Hainan Island.[3] In 2010, two ferry boats were in operation: Yuehai No. 1 and Yuehai No. 2. The third boat, Yuehai No. 3, was launched in Tianjin in September 2010.[4]

Yuehai No. 3 and the fourth boat, Yuehai No. 4, entered revenue service with the ferry company on February 1, 2013.[5] The two 23,000-ton vessels are 188 meters (616 ft 10 in) long, 23 meters (75 ft) wide and 15.3 meters (50 ft 2 in) in total height; they have a 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in) draft. The vessels carry rail cars at the lower deck and cars on the upper deck; there are passenger compartments as well. They travel at the speed of up to 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).[6]

Notes

  1. "China's first cross-sea railway opening ceremony announced today". Sina Weibo. China News Network.
  2. Yue 粤 is the standard Chinese abbreviation for Guangdong, and Hai 海, for Hainan.
  3. "Train–ferry project making solid progress". By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily). Updated: 2006-06-06
  4. Train Ferry across Qiongzhou Strait Launched at Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd Archived 2010-12-05 at the Wayback Machine 2010-10-12
  5. 粤海铁路新增两艘万吨级火车渡轮投运琼州海峡
  6. 粤海铁3、4号渡轮投入客滚运输 琼州海峡添运力, 2013-02-02
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