Type High-speed rail Locale (Hainan) Opened 30 December 2015 Terminis Sanya, Haikou | Status operational Services 1 Rolling stock CRH1A, CRH380A | |
The Hainan Western Ring High-Speed Railway (Chinese: 海南西环高速铁路; pinyin: Hǎinán i huán gāosù tiělù, often abbreviated [海南]西环高铁, [Hǎinán] Xi huán gāotiě) is a high-speed railway in Hainan Province of China. It started operation on 30 December 2015.
The 344-km long rail line runs along the western half of the island's coastline, from Haikou Railway Station in the north to Sanya Railway Station. At its two end points, it connects with the existing Hainan Eastern Ring High-Speed Railway (opened in 2010), thus forming a high-speed railway ring around the entire island.
Unlike the Hainan Eastern Ring High-Speed Railway, which runs along the coast previously not served by railway (other than at its end points, Haikou and Sanya), the Western Ring Railway roughly parallels the "conventional" Hainan Western Ring Railway, which has connected Haikou and Sanya since 2005.
History
The Hainan Western Ring Railway has been constructed in two stages.
The first short section connects the existing Sanya Railway Station with the new Sanya Phoenix Airport Railway Station, 10 km to the west. The section has one intermediate station, the Sanya West Railway Station (三亚西站). The construction work on this section (凤三段, Feng-San duan) was completed by the end of 2014, but that apparently did not happen.
On the rest of the railway - the much longer section from Sanya Phoenix Airport to Haikou - progress as of 2012 was still in its preliminary phase. Property was acquired, and demolition was conducted. According to the construction plans, 22,300 mu (14.8 km2) of land will be permanently used by the railway and associated facilities, and another 8,800 mu (5.9 km2) was temporary used during construction. Eighty-seven thousand m2 of housing will be demolished. The necessary demolitions were completed by the end of 2013.