Guangzhou is pushing forward the construction of a sprawling railway network in the city, the Pearl River Delta and beyond. Check out the following updates on some of the lines under construction and see how you can make the most of the easy connectivity in and around the city.

Photo/Guangzhou Metro

Guangdong Department of Transportation has recently unveiled the names of 10 stations of the Xintang-Baiyun Airport-Guangzhou (Xinbaiguang) Intercity Railway (新白广城际铁路). Some of the stations have been renamed, the department's latest notice showed.

The Xinbaiguang Intercity Railway, also known as the north extension of Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen Intercity Rail (穗莞深城际), stretches around 78 kilometers, connecting Zengcheng, Huangpu, Baiyun and Huadu districts. The railway starts from Xintang (新塘) in Zengcheng district, passes through Baiyun Airport and ends at Guangzhou North Railway Station.

With 13 planned stations, the new rail route is positioned as a connecting line of Guangzhou-Qingyuan Intercity Railway (广清城际), Dongguan-Huizhou Railway (莞惠城际) and Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen Intercity Rail.

With a designed speed of up to 200 kilometers per hour, the new railway is expected to slash traveling time between Baiyun Airport and Guangzhou North Railway Station, the two transport hubs in Guangzhou, to only seven minutes. At present, it would take about 30 minutes to travel between the two destinations via Guangzhou Metro network.

Once put into operation, the new line also will shuttle passengers from Xintang station to Baiyun Airport in 20 minutes, and Baiyun Airport to Shenzhen Airport in 40 minutes.

The new intercity railway is projected to start trial run in the first half of 2021.

1. Line 18 (Guangzhou East Railway Station - Wanqingsha广州东站—万顷沙)The Line 18 is scheduled to open to traffic in two phases, with the Wanqingsha - Xiancun (万顷沙至冼村) section opening in June and Xiancun - Guangzhou East Railway Station (冼村至广州东) section in December. With nine stations, eight of them interchange stations, the line will run from north to south across Guangzhou, connecting Tianhe, Haizhu, Panyu and Nansha districts, and will stretch southwards to Zhongshan and Zhuhai cities in the future.

2. Line 22 (Panyu Square station - Fangcun station 番禺广场—芳村站)The Line 22 also is expected to start service in two phases, with the Panyu Square - Chentougang (番禺广场至陈头岗) section opening in June, and the Chentougang - Bai’e’tan(陈头岗至白鹅潭) in December. It cuts across Nansha, Panyu and Liwan districts and connects railway transport hubs like Guangzhou South Railway Station and Bai’e’tan.

3. West extension of Line 7 (Guangzhou South Railway Station - Meidi Dadao 广州南站—美的大道)As the second metro line to connect Guangzhou and Foshan, the west extension of Line 7 starts from Guangzhou South Railway Station and runs to Meidi Dadao in Shunde district in Foshan. Three of the eight planned stations are interchange ones, linking with Foshan Metro Lines 3 and 11 and Guangfo (Guangzhou-Foshan) Ring Line (广佛环线). The route is anticipated to open in 2021.