Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong railway

Husutong Railway
Yangtze River Bridge on Husutong railway under construction, March 2016
Overview
Native name沪苏通铁路
Termini
Stations9
Service
TypeHigher-speed rail
Heavy rail
Technical
Line length137.28 km (85.30 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Operating speed200 km/h (120 mph)
SignallingAutomatic block signaling
Maximum incline0.6%
Route map

Nantong West
Zhangjiagang
Changshu
Taicang
Anting West
Anting
to Fengbang
& Shanghai Hongqiao
Xuhang
Shanghai Baoshan
Waigaoqiao
Caolu
Shanghai East
Situan

Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong railway, abbreviated as Husutong railway[1] (Chinese: 沪苏通铁路; pinyin: Hù-Sū-Tōng tiělù, "Hu", "Su" and "Tong" being the abbreviations for Shanghai, Suzhou and Nantong, respectively) is a higher-speed railway in China's Yangtze River Delta area, connecting Shanghai, the region's main city located south of the Yangtze, with Nantong in Jiangsu province, north of the river.

The railway is 143 kilometres (89 mi) in length and traverses several county-level cities in Suzhou Municipality of Jiangsu along the south bank of the Yangtze including Zhangjiagang, Changshu and Taicang.[2][3] The railway is also called the Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong railway or the Husutong railway. The railway is designed to accommodate maximum train speeds of 200 km/h (120 mph),[4] the operation of electric traction hauled double-stack container trains[5][6][7] and has reduced train travel time from Nantong to Shanghai to just over one hour.[4]

History

[edit]

Initially proposed as the Shanghai–Nantong railway (Abbreviated as Hutong railway),[8] construction works began on the first phase of the project in March 2014, and was expected to take five and a half years.[4] The railway began operation on July 1, 2020.[2][3]

The second phase of the railway, from Taicang to Situan, was approved in September 2021.[9]

Route

[edit]

The railway includes 137 kilometres (85 mi) of new tracks, from Zhaodian railway station (赵甸站) on the Nanjing–Qidong railway northwest of downtown Nantong to Huangdu railway station on the Beijing–Shanghai railway, in the northwestern part of Shanghai City. Anting being within 20 km (12 mi) of Shanghai railway station, the total railway distance from Nantong to Shanghai is under 160 kilometres (100 mi).

The railway crosses the Yangtze River over the new Hutong Yangtze River Bridge between Nantong and Zhangjiagang, a double-deck bridge with a 4-track railway on the lower deck and a six-lane roadway on the upper deck. The bridge is the world's longest span (1,092 metres (3,583 ft)) cable-stayed road-rail bridge with the highest (325 metres (1,066 ft)) piers of a cable-stayed road-rail bridge.[10] The bridge is the easternmost railway crossing of the Yangtze. Previously, the only railway crossing in the Yangtze Delta region was a freight-only rail ferry on the Xinyi–Changxing railway, between Jingjiang and Jiangyin, some 30 kilometres (19 mi) upstream. The closest railway bridge is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, over 200 kilometres (120 mi) upstream. The new bridge thus greatly improves the railway connections between the Central Jiangsu (the region north of the Yangtze) and the Jiangnan, in particular Shanghai.

On its way between the new bridge and Anting, the railway has brought rail service for the first time to prosperous communities on the southern bank of the Yangtze such as Zhangjiagang, Changshu, and Taicang which had no railway connection.[4]

Railway Stations

[edit]
Station Chinese Distance
(km)
County-level city / District Prefecture-level city Province Metro transfers
Nantong 南通站 (13) Chongchuan Nantong Jiangsu
Zhaodian 赵甸站 0 Tongzhou Nantong Jiangsu
Nantong West 南通西站 6 Tongzhou Nantong Jiangsu
Zhangjiagang North 张家港北站 32 Zhangjiagang Suzhou Jiangsu
Zhangjiagang 张家港站 34 Zhangjiagang Suzhou Jiangsu
Changshu 常熟站 52 Changshu Suzhou Jiangsu
Taicanggang (freight station) 太仓港站 Taicang Suzhou Jiangsu
Taicang 太仓站 100 Taicang Suzhou Jiangsu
Taicang South 太仓南站 114 Taicang Suzhou Jiangsu
Anting West 安亭西站 129 Jiading Shanghai Shanghai
Huangdu 黄渡站 Jiading Shanghai Shanghai
Xuhang (branch) 徐行站 Jiading Shanghai Shanghai
Shanghai Baoshan (branch) 上海宝山站 Baoshan Shanghai Shanghai
Waigaoqiao (freight station, branch) 外高桥站 Pudong Shanghai Shanghai
Caolu (branch) 曹路站 Pudong Shanghai Shanghai
Shanghai East (branch) 上海东站 Pudong Shanghai Shanghai
Situan (branch) 四团站 Pudong Shanghai Shanghai

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "沪苏通铁路7月1日开通运营 助推长三角区域一体化发展". China Railway. 2020-06-30. Archived from the original on 2021-02-22. 上海至苏州至南通铁路(以下简称沪苏通铁路)将于7月1日开通运营,助推长江三角洲区域一体化发展,上海至南通最快旅行时间压缩至1小时6分钟。
  2. ^ a b (Chinese) 林小昭, "沪苏通铁路今开通,上海大都市圈迎加快发展新契机" 第一财经 2020-07-01
  3. ^ a b (Chinese) "沪苏通铁路开通!江苏南通正式加入长三角1小时经济圈" 央视新闻 2020-07-01
  4. ^ a b c d "沪通铁路2013年正式开建 南通到上海仅需一小时" [Construction work on the Hu-Tong Railway will officially start in 2013. It will take just an hour to travel from Nantong to Shanghai] (in Chinese). December 24, 2012.
  5. ^ sina_mobile (2017-01-21). "中国跨度最大公铁两用钢拱桥合龙(图)". news.sina.cn. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  6. ^ "「通沪铁路7月运营,宁启-通沪路增开动车组38对」- 南通房产超市". nt.fccs.com. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  7. ^ "上海铁路局:宁启铁路4月11日起进行动态检测". inews.ifeng.com. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  8. ^ "沪通铁路改名为通沪铁路 业内:或与铁路命名方式有关". 扬子晚报. 2020-04-14.
  9. ^ "沪苏通铁路二期批了!". 高铁网. 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  10. ^ Lin Kai (1 March 2014). "Work starts on the dual-use Shanghai-Taiwan Yangtze River". Xinhuanet. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014.