The opening ceremony of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway was held at Huzhou East Railway Station, and the first train has just departed.
The first train of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway G9508 (Huzhou East – Shanghai Hongqiao) reporter: Yu Kai, The Paper’s news and pictures were taken on December 26th at 9:30 a.m., when the opening ceremony of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway was held at Huzhou East Railway Station on the south bank of Taihu Lake. At 9:45 am, the first Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed train G9508 (Huzhou East – Shanghai Hongqiao) departed from the newly built Huzhou East Railway Station and headed for Shanghai, marking the official opening of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway. After the opening, Shanghai Hongqiao can reach Huzhou Station within 55 minutes at fastest, adding a new artery to the “Yangtze River Delta on Rails”.
Many local residents came to the entrance of Huzhou East Railway Station early in the morning to anticipate the operation of the high-speed train. Photo taken by reporter Yu Kai for The Paper.
After the opening of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway, Huzhou can reach Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei within an hour.
“I’m so excited. I finally became one of the first passengers,” said Qiu Wenhui, the owner of a guesthouse in Madian, who told The Paper that she travels between Huzhou and Shanghai every month. She lived in Wukang Road, Shanghai from 2018 to 2021, and now she runs a guesthouse business while attending a cultural and creative class at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. When she heard the news of the construction of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway in June 2020, she was very excited and has been looking forward to its opening. Qiu usually takes the high-speed train to Shanghai and takes two hours to get there because she usually has a lot of luggage and has to drive. “After the opening of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway, it will be much more convenient for me to travel between Shanghai and Huzhou. We are ready to welcome a huge flow of passengers.”
The reporter learned from the opening ceremony that the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway starts from Shanghai Hongqiao Station, passes through Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, and ends at Huzhou Station in Zhejiang Province. The main line is 164 kilometers long with a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It includes eight stations: Shanghai Hongqiao, Shanghai Songjiang, Liantang, Suzhou South, Shengze, Huzhou Nanjin, Huzhou East, and Huzhou Station. Among them, Shanghai Hongqiao and Huzhou stations are existing stations, while the rest are new stations. The total investment of the project is about 38 billion yuan.
The appearance of Huzhou East Railway Station Photo provided by the interviewee
The Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway is located in the west of Shanghai, the south of Jiangsu Province, and the north of Zhejiang Province, running across the core area of the Yangtze River Delta. It is a major project for infrastructure interconnection in the Yangtze River Delta region, as well as an important project for connecting and strengthening the high-speed rail network in the Yangtze River Delta. At the same time, it crosses the Jiangnan water town and connects many famous towns such as Zhujiajiao, Liantang, Jinze, Shengze, Zhenze, Lili, Nanjin, Wuzhen, etc., forming a leisure tourism golden line with rich Jiangnan water town characteristics.
Huzhou is located in the north of Zhejiang Province and on the south bank of Taihu Lake. In 2018, “Shanghai Metropolitan Area Spatial Coordinated Planning” was released, making Huzhou a member of the Shanghai Metropolitan Area. After the opening of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway, it will further accelerate Huzhou’s integration into the Shanghai Metropolitan Area, closely connecting Huzhou and Shanghai. The travel time from Huzhou Station to Shanghai Hongqiao Station will be shortened from the original two hours to just 55 minutes at fastest, saving one hour. This will help Huzhou better accept the radiation and drive of Shanghai, promote the accelerated flow and optimal allocation of resource elements. From now on, Huzhou has become the only city in the Yangtze River Delta that can reach Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei within an hour.
The diagram of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway Photo provided by the interviewee
“After the opening of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway, Huzhou will achieve 60-minute access to major cities in the Yangtze River Delta and 90-minute access to all prefecture-level cities in the Yangtze River Delta,” said Shen Xinyu, deputy director of regional cooperation office in Huzhou city of Zhejiang Province.
With the opening of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway, new stations such as Songjiang station (the largest new station along the line) and Liantang station in Qingpu District of Shanghai also put into operation synchronously. The addition of these new stations will further enrich Shanghai’s railway transportation network, improve regional rail network layout, effectively relieve transportation pressure on transportation corridors such as Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou railways, optimize Shanghai railway hub layout, facilitate people’s travel along the line, and is of great significance for building “the Yangtze River Delta on Rails” and promoting regional economic development and high-quality integrated development in the Yangtze River Delta.
The interior landscape of Huzhou East Railway Station Photo taken by reporter Yu Kai for The Paper
In the initial stage of operation, up to 38 bullet trains will be operated on this route daily during peak periods. For “the Yangtze River Delta on Rails”, today’s opening of Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway is not just a single line but a way to “activate” the entire network and improve transportation efficiency between cities and stations. This high-speed rail line will greatly shorten travel time between major cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, fill the gap in railway connections between southern Suzhou and surrounding cities, further strengthen transportation links in this region.
Chinese Railway Shanghai Bureau Group Transportation Department Senior Engineer Wei Qiang introduced that Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway operates at a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour. In the initial stage of operation, railway departments will operate up to 38 bullet trains daily with cross line trains being dominant. It will take just 16 minutes from Shanghai Hongqiao to Songjiang station in Shanghai via this route; it will also take just 26 minutes to reach Suzhou South station and 43 minutes to reach Huzhou Nanjin station; it will be fastest 55 minutes from Shanghai Hongqiao to Huzhou station which is a compression of 55 minutes compared with traveling via existing routes such as Hangzhou North High Speed Rail and Nanjing South High Speed Rail. For example, Shanghai Hongqiao will start its first bullet train to Hangzhou West station with fastest journey time being just 78 minutes. Up to 229 bullet trains will be operated daily on this route by the first quarter train diagram adjustment in 2025.
The platform inside Huzhou East Railway Station Photo taken by reporter Yu Kai for The Paper
For instance, with help of networking, improvement and strengthening of Shanghai- Suzhou- Huzhou high- speed railway, the previously popular “super loop line” high- speed train in the Yangtze River Delta will迎take both directions start on January 5th 2025 with a new schedule which means longer overnight service, facilitated by Shenhai- Sukou- Huzhou high speed railway, Hezhou- Hangzhou high speed railway, Ning An high speed railway as well as Beijing – Hong Kong (including connections between other cities. The new route covers about 1320 kilometers with travel time around 8 hours and 40 minutes. With launch benefits from Shenhai- Sukou- Huzhou high speed railway, a new circular train (product) pair G8981/4/1 G8982/3/2 will also be introduced via four lines including Shenhai- Sukou- Huzhou high speed railway, Hezhou- Hangzhou high speed railway, Ning An high speed railway as well as Shangxu Intercity Railway. The new circular route links up several small cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang provinces with two major cities in Yangtze River Delta center, making intercity travel more convenient for people living in neighboring cities and surrounding big cities. Moreover, it also meets actual demand for “section ride” along this route which means passengers can take part of trip according to their actual need. 值得注意的是，通过发挥新开通的沪苏湖高速铁路的通道能力，江浙沪多地间的早高峰通勤列车产品也得到进一步丰富。明年１月５日起，将新增开行湖州东（６：３０开）经盛泽（６：４４到）经练塘（７：０２到）经上海松江（７：１４到）到上海南（７：３１到）的Ｃ３０４２次城际列车１列，上海松江（６：５３开）到上海南（７：０８到）的Ｃ３０４４次城际列车１列，湖州东（６：４６开）经湖州南浔（６：
