Trillium

The Beijing–Kowloon railway, also known as the Jingjiu railway (simplified Chinese: 京九铁路 or 京九线; traditional Chinese: 京九鐵路 or 京九線) is a dual track railway connecting Beijing West railway station in Beijing to Shenzhen railway station in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

It is connected with Hong Kong's East Rail line across the border, which conventional railway service terminates at Hung Hom in southern Kowloon. Conventional railway service between Shenzhen and Hung Hom stations has been suspended indefinitely since 2020.

History

Construction of the railway began in February 1993. It was opened on 1 September 1996, connecting Beijing and Shenzhen (and thereupon with Kowloon through the KCR East Rail) through Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi and Guangdong, with a length of 2,397 kilometres (1,489 mi). It has 790 bridges and 160 tunnels. The Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, at a length of 7,679 metres (25,194 ft), is the longest across the Yangtze River.^[1] Located between Jinghu railway (Beijing–Shanghai) and Jingguang railway (Beijing–Guangzhou), it was built to alleviate the congested Jingguang railway, and to foster development in the areas to the east of Jingguang railway.

The idea had been proposed for a long time, and some of the sections, such as the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, were built before construction of the whole line officially began. Some were converted from existing sections, such as between Jiujiang and Nanchang, and Fuyang and Shangqiu.

The railway uses the same line as Guangmeishan railway (Guangzhou–Meizhou–Shantou railway) between Longchuan and Dongguan. It joins the Guangshen railway (Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway, formerly the Chinese section of the Kowloon–Canton railway) at Dongguan, and follows the same route. Within Hong Kong, it shares the same pair of tracks with the East Rail line (formerly British section of the Kowloon–Canton railway).

Beijing–Kowloon through train services are currently provided on the Jingguang railway and Guangshen railway, instead of the Jingjiu railway, because Beijing-Kowloon line emphasizes freight traffic and pass through less major cities. Passengers are required to go through customs and immigration checks for the cross-border service. However, cross-border services have been suspended indefinitely since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Electrification of the line between Beijing West and Lehua was completed in May 2010 allowing operating speeds to increase from 160 to 200 km/h (99 to 124 mph) with provisions for operation of double-stack container trains.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]