Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway opens, see the “first road in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai” from Huzhou, the “heart of the Yangtze River Delta”
On December 26th, the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway, known as the “first highway in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai”, was officially opened for operation. This railway connects Jiang, Zhejiang and Shanghai with its shortest path of 164 kilometers and a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It makes Huzhou, a city in the center of the Yangtze River Delta and known as the “heart of the Yangtze River Delta”, a hub connecting Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. It is also the only city in the Yangtze River Delta that can reach Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei within an hour by train.
The Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway starts at Shanghai虹桥站 in Shanghai, passes through Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, and ends at Huzhou站in Huzhou in Zhejiang Province. It has 8 stations including Shanghai虹桥, Shanghai松江, LianTang, Suzhou南, Shengze, Huzhou南浔, Huzhou东, and Huzhou站. It crosses the core area of the Yangtze River Delta, passes through the integrated development demonstration area of Shanghai Qingpu and Suzhou Wujiang in the Yangtze River Delta, and will connect with the Shangcai-Hangzhou Railway in Huzhou to reach Anhui Province. It is a backbone line of the intercity rail transit network in the Yangtze River Delta, an important part of the “Ring Taihu Rail Transit Circle”, and the most representative project for infrastructure interconnection under the national strategy of the Yangtze River Delta integration.
Huzhou on the south bank of Taihu Lake is not far from Wuxi on the north bank in terms of distance to Shanghai, but it takes a detour to reach Shanghai by train for 92 minutes while Wuxi can reach Shanghai in just 28 minutes by train. Therefore, the opening of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway has a deeper and more profound impact on Huzhou people who stand in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta.
From a river transportation hub to a railway hub
In the era of river transportation, Huzhou, with its crisscrossed water system, became a natural river transportation hub. Silk from Huzhou could reach Shanghai through waterways and then be exported to the world. At that time, Huzhou was a key distribution center in the regional economy and played a significant role in economic and trade exchanges. With the rapid development of productivity and frequent iterations of transportation tools, cities along railway lines quickly replaced those that flourished due to water transportation.
Pan Kangmei, a 74-year-old retired railway worker, clearly remembers that it was not until 1972 when the Hangzhou-Niutoushan Railway (杭州至安徽牛头山) passed through Huzhou that Huzhou had its own railway station, namely the predecessor of “Huzhou West”. However, at that time, “Huzhou West” only had 4 trains per day, mainly undertaking coal transportation tasks, with daily passenger flow of only a few hundred people. The journey from Huzhou to Hangzhou was time-consuming.
The traffic situation without sufficient railway services has restrained this city’s access to distant places. “The Impact of Rail Transit on Huzhou’s Development and Countermeasures” mentioned that Huzhou is located in the central area of the Yangtze River Delta and is also the common hinterland of Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. However, due to lagging transportation development, Huzhou’s regional advantages have gradually weakened. For a long time, Huzhou relied on 318 National Highway to reach Shanghai until the first highway connecting the two cities was opened in 2006, significantly reducing travel time.
The marginalization of railway construction also left Huzhou, located on the south bank of Taihu Lake, at a disadvantage in urban competition compared to Suzhou and Wuxi on the north bank with convenient transportation. As early as 2005, Huzhou began planning a railway to Shanghai.
Xu Hua, who has been involved in rail transit for 15 years and is currently the director of the Construction Management Division of Huzhou Railway Transit Construction Management Service Center, has witnessed Huzhou’s “railway moments”: The construction of the Nanjing-Hangzhou High-Speed Rail began in 2009, officially launching Huzhou’s railway construction journey; In 2013, when the Nanjing-Hangzhou High-Speed Rail was completed, Huzhou Station was opened, connecting Huzhou to the national high-speed rail network with just 21 minutes to Hangzhou and 45 minutes to Nanjing, integrating into the Yangtze River Delta one-hour city circle; In 2020, the Shangcai-Hangzhou High-Speed Rail was opened, reducing the travel time from Huzhou to Hefei to about an hour without needing to detour through Nanjing; In 2022, the Huzhou-Hangzhou Railway was opened as an important part of the supporting infrastructure for the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The construction of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway has been highly anticipated for many years. This project has faced many complex adjustments and has suffered several delays in construction. Its construction was promoted at a meeting of regional leaders in June 2020 held in Huzhou during its integration into the Yangtze River Delta region as an important strategic region.
Chen Guanquan who is responsible for general design of Shanghai-Suzhou high speed railway said after its opening it will connect with other railways such as Hefei and Nanjing high speed railways forming a “cross” shaped hub which will enable interconnection between Shanghai Nanjing Hangzhou and Hefei cities while attracting more flow of people logistics capital into Huzhou.” The announcement about bus connections for Shanghai-Suzhou high speed railway revealed last month showed that when it opens it will launch three new lines and optimize twelve existing lines facilitating passenger travel between stations and various parts of cities said Yu Zheng who is director of Transportation Bureau for Huzhou City.” From being a river transportation hub to a railway hub Huzhou will continue to expand its transport services making them more powerful as it enables Intermodal connectivity underlinuing its collaboration with neighboring cities as well as enhancing its position within this strategic region through collaborations with major players such as Shanghai Suzhou and other cities within this region.”
The relationship between Huzhou and Shanghai has never been closer than it is now following the opening of Shanghai-Suzhou high speed railway which has reduced travel time from two hours to about 40 minutes making it easy for people to visit both cities during their daily commute which means that people can visit their relatives or friends in other cities during lunch break.” The city has been preparing itself for this development by strengthening its collaborations with other cities promoting tourism activities among other initiatives designed to attract tourists which include hosting an event titled “Huzhou beauty China Week” aimed at showcasing city’s beauty across different fields including economy culture society ecology as well as reaching out to key enterprises innovation platforms universities among others highlighting city’s competitive advantages.”
Huzhou has been working closely with Shanghai for over three decades dating back from when Pudong New Area was being developed Although there was no direct high speed train connection between two cities previously this visit is riding on an opportunity provided by Shanghai-Suzhou high speed railway which is now open for public use today celebrating its opening ceremony which is part of major event week aimed at promoting tourism cooperation between two cities.” What opportunities does this bring? The city is readying itself by building “2+8” high level platforms promoting eight emerging industries including renewable energy vehicles smart phones semiconductors among others focusing on its West Sai “Science Valley” where high end research platforms have been set up attracting talents in various fields As result investment intensity has been increasing continuously in recent years with city’s focus on building green manufacturing innovation green technology green opening up three corridors precisely aligning itself with economic financial trade shipping innovation centers construction projects in order to integrate into larger Shanghai area as part its strategy to build itself into an international open hub with golden west wing connecting虹桥国际开放枢纽.”
According to Shen Hui Deputy Director General of Development Research Commission General Administration just introduced that deepened cooperation between Huizhou Suzhou or other cities is gaining momentum reaching out to all parts creating an ecosystem attracting talents such as those interested in technology creating partnership projects linking back with areas such as Singapore aiming directly at integration with bigger cities across greater Shanghai area despite having geographical disadvantages compared with other areas like eastern China due mainly limited infrastructure connections but now these have all changed after launch high speed railway connections improving significantly improved.” For many years residents in Yangze have looked forward opening up transport corridors facilitating cross border connections within Yangtze River Delta but recently thanks initiatives like construction launched this week project local residents can enjoy advantages provided by new transport infrastructure which will bring great convenience not only those working studying living across Yangtze River Delta but also those outside region.” Similarly development cooperation projects like “heart of Yangtze” project bringing huge benefits promoting urbanization by bringing closer connectivity among cities across region as well improving living standards enhancing sense belonging promoting economic growth by facilitating exchange activities improving living conditions etc.”沪湖同城化”的便捷性将被更多人感知。在湖州市中心医院名医馆五号诊室，复旦大学附属中山医院胸外科副主任范虹每月至少坐诊半天。两家医院牵手十年除了疫情期间此前范虹每次都是自驾两小时来湖州如今沪苏湖高铁让这段情谊再无距离于双城间稳稳扎根。沪苏湖高铁通车后市民异地就医需求必将攀升。今年五月名医湖州荟启动全国名院名医纷纷与湖州牵手达成合作项目九十一项。湖州已完成四百三十三家医疗机构和一千零十一家零售药店异地联网直接结算开通率达百分之百力保医保结算高效畅通。 As we witness the integration between cities like Shanghai and Suzhou through initiatives like this high speed rail network which has been eagerly anticipated by residents of Huzhou for many years allows people from all over China
