Pingnan railway

Pingnan railway is a railway line in Shenzhen connecting Pinghu with Nanshan. Freight and long-distance passenger train services are provided.

The route

The line is 50.2km long with 8 stations, from Pinghu, where it is linked to Guangshen railway, to Shekou West or Mawan (which are on different branches). The entire line is single-track and built at standard gauge (1435mm). The maximum speed on the line is 75 km/h. The line is not electrified, and therefore only diesel locomotives are used on the line.

History

The railway was planned in the late 1980s to provide rail access for the Port of Shenzhen. It was the first railway in the People's Republic of China being built with both local and foreign capital.

Construction of the Pingnan railway was approved in 1991 by the Chinese Government and commenced in September that year. In March 1993 part of the route was opened for trial operation. The entire line was opened in September 1994 and included into the national railway network.cite news|url=http://paper.sznews.com/szsb/20050830/ca1832614.htm|title=平南铁路希望之路 |date=2005-08-30|publisher=深圳商报|accessdate=2008-08-08]

In late 2003 Shenzhen West railway station was renovated and enlarged from a few hundred square metres in area to about 3800 m². In 2005 Chiwan railway station was demolished to make way for a new road access into the port of Chiwan. The port holdings company compensated over 34 million yuan for this. [cite news|url=http://www.stock2000.com.cn/refresh/arch/2006/03/06/978444.htm|title=深圳赤湾港航股份有限公司关联交易公告|date=2006-03-06|publisher=深圳赤湾港航股份有限公司|accessdate=2008-08-08]

On 2007-09-02, two empty freight carriages were derailed at a switch beside Xili railway station. The carriages were damaged and services on the railway were suspended. [cite news|url=http://news.xinmin.cn/.../shehui/2007/09/03/871577.html|title=深圳火车西站货车两节车厢发生侧翻|date=2007-09-03|publisher=新快报|accessdate=2008-08-08] Repair works were completed and services resumed by the following day. [cite news|url=http://news.huoche.com.cn/25907|title=平南铁路西丽站恢复正常|date=2007-09-04|publisher=广州日报|accessdate=2008-08-08]

References