Guangdong–Hainan railway

The Guangdong–Hainan railway is a railway that operates from Haikou railway station in Hainan, via South Port, a few hundred metres north-west on the coast, and the Qiongzhou Strait ferry, to Zhanjiang, at the tip of the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong, and then north into Guangdong.

Guangdong–Hainan railway
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	(Hainan)
Termini	Haikou railway station, Haikou, Hainan, China
Service
Services	1
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)

Yuehai Ferry

The Yuehai Ferry (Chinese: 粤海铁路轮渡; pinyin: Yuè-Hǎi tiělù lúndù[1]) is a train and vehicle ferry connecting the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Hainan. The ferry service runs across the Qiongzhou Strait, between Zhanjiang and South Port, just north-west of Haikou railway station.

When ferries containing railway cars arrive at South Port from Zhanjiang, passengers not travelling in railway cars disembark. The passenger cars are run off the ferries and a locomotive is attached, which takes the train to the Haikou railway station. There, the passengers exit the cars and leave the station, or they can connect to the Hainan Eastern Ring high-speed railway. Freight trains also use the ferry service and travel through Haikou railway station onto the Hainan western ring railway, and to other locations in Hainan, such as Dongfang.

The line has operated since January 2003, carrying both freight and passenger trains, enabling direct train service between the mainland and the cities of Haikou and Sanya on Hainan Island.[2] In 2010, two ferry boats were in operation: Yuehai No. 1 and Yuehai No. 2. The third boat, Yuehai No. 3, was launched in Tianjin in September 2010.[3]

Yuehai No. 3 and the fourth boat, Yuehai No. 4, entered revenue service with the ferry company on February 1, 2013.[4] The two 23,000-ton vessels are 188 meter long, 23 meters wide and 15.3 meters in total height; they have a 5.6 m draft. The vessels carry rail cars at the lower deck and cars on the upper deck; there are passenger compartments as well. They travel at the speed of up to 17 knots.[5]

Images of railway in Hainan

• 
  Main entrance road with toll booths
• 
  Walkway for pedestrian access to ferry
• 
  Ferry and rail line
• 
  Rail line that brings trains to the Haikou railway station

Notes

1. Yue 粤 is the standard Chinese abbreviation for Guangdng, and Hai 海, for Hainan.
2. "Train–ferry project making solid progress". By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily). Updated: 2006-06-06
3. Train Ferry across Qiongzhou Strait Launched at Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd Archived 2010-12-05 at the Wayback Machine 2010-10-12
4. 粤海铁路新增两艘万吨级火车渡轮投运琼州海峡
5. 粤海铁3、4号渡轮投入客滚运输 琼州海峡添运力, 2013-02-02

External links