Shiziyang Tunnel
High-speed railway tunnel in China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Shiziyang Tunnel is a high-speed railway tunnel under Shiziyang, the northern part of the Pearl River estuary in China.[1]
China Railway 12th Bureau Group
5.5 kilometres
| Shiziyang Tunnel | |
|---|---|
| |
 Interactive map of Shiziyang Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
| Line | Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong |
| Operation | |
| Constructed | China Railway Group China Railway 12th Bureau Group |
| Opened | 26 December 2011 |
| Technical | |
| Length | 5.3 kilometres 5.5 kilometres |
| No. of tracks | 2 |
Operating speed | 250km/h (350km/h designed) |
Route
The 10.8 km long tunnel is part of a 140-kilometer (87 mi)-long high-speed line from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It is designed for speeds of up to 350 km/h (usually 250 km/h in operation) - the fastest underwater tunnel in the world.[2] as well as being China's longest underwater tunnel.[3] This allows rail journeys between Guangzhou and Hong Kong to take only 40 minutes – much faster than the previous 2-hour journey. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong express rail link is part of a broader expansion of high-speed rail in China; journeys from Beijing to Hong Kong will take only 8 hours.[4]
Construction
Construction began in November 2007, with a budget of CNY2.4 billion;[5] the tunnel was completed in 2011, and passenger services began on 26 December 2011.[4] Unusually, the tunnel boring machines were designed to be dismantled inside the tunnel.[5]