Phase 1

The first phase opened on December 28, 2016, and starts at Guangzhou South Railway Station and ends at Higher Education Mega Center South. It has interchanges with Line 2 at Guangzhou South Railway Station and Shibi, Line 3 at Hanxi Changlong, Line 18 at Nancun Wanbo and Line 4 at Higher Education Mega Center South and a total length is 18.6 km (11.56 mi) with 10 stations.

Phase 1 west extension

Platform of Chencun

The plan for west extension of the first phase from Guangzhou South Railway Station to Meidi Dadao in Shunde District, Foshan was approved in October 2015.^[2] The construction of the west extension to Shunde began in June 2016.^[3] The west extension opened on 1 May 2022.^[4][5][6] The extension is 13.447 km (8.356 mi) in length with 8 stations.^[7] It has an interchange with Foshan Metro Line 3 at Beijiao Park.

Phase 2

The Northern extension to Yanshan opened on 28 December 2023. It extends the line into Huangpu District, having a total length of 22.2 km (13.79 mi) with 11 stations, 10 of which are operational^[8] (Hongshengsha station is complete, but was not opened pending development in the area). It has interchanges with Line 13 at Yufengwei, Line 5 at Dashadong, Line 6 at Luogang and Line 21 and Huangpu Tram Line 1 at Shuixi.

Planning

Line 7 started in 2002 as the Fangcun-Panyu-Huangpu Line which started from Xilang station on Line 1 and heads south to Panyu District. The line then roughly follows the existing first phase of Line 7 but runs slightly north, connecting to Line 2 and 3 at what today is Nanpu and Dashi Stations respectively. The line then heads east to serve and encourage development around the Xinzao and Hualong areas and cross the Pearl River to terminate at the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone,^[9] which today will be served by the under construction Line 5 Phase II extension.

Subsequently, Line 7's design was greatly revised in 2003, with the alignment east of Dashi was shifted north to Huangpu District via Shaxi, University Town and Changzhou Island. The interchange station with Line 3 was changed from Dashi to Hanxi Changlong station as constructed today. Additionally, the western terminus was changed to Guangzhou New Passenger Station, what is now Guangzhou South railway station. This shifted Line 7's plan to roughly follow what Line 7's Phase 1 and 2 are today.

During initial planning, Line 7 considered the use of 4 car L-type light metro trains for operation. However, severe congestion issues were created after the opening of Line 3, which only uses low capacity 3 car Type B trains and Line 6 which uses even lower capacity 4 car L-shaped trains, prompted heavy public criticism. Planners subsequently reevaluated the passenger flow forecasts for the entire line of Line 7, and upgraded the design to use 6 car B-type trains. Therefore, at the time of construction of Line 7, the partly completed station structures of Line 7 platforms at Guangzhou South Railway Station and Higher Education Mega Center South station were expanded to accommodate the longer trains.