Guiyang–Guangzhou high-speed railway

Construction progress on the Guiyang–Guangzhou high-speed railway, bridge over the Xingping Reservoir in Xingping district of Yangshuo county, Guilin, August 2013

The Guiguang HSR was a major trunk route planned in the 11th Five Year Plan by the Chinese government. It is designed to serve as a rapid rail link between the southwest China and the Pearl River Delta. Construction began in 2008 and was completed in 2014. The line was built to accommodate train speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph), with the capacity to be remodelled to allow train speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph).

The Guiguang HSR takes a more direct route between its terminal cities, and crosses exceptionally difficult and mountainous terrain, which made construction very costly. The project cost an estimated 85.8 billion RMB (USD$12.5 billion),[3] although this figure was later revised to 94.6 billion RMB (USD$13.8 billion).[4]

The line runs from Guangzhou through Foshan, Sanshui and Zhaoqing in the densely populated Pearl River Delta and then crosses the Lingnan mountain range via Huaiji into Guangxi. It continues in a northwesterly direction through Hezhou and Zhongxiang to the famed scenic cities of Yangshuo and Guilin and then on to Sanjiang. The line enters Guizhou at Congjiang near the southeast tip of the province and passes Rongjiang, Sandu, Duyun, and Longli on to Guiyang in the center of the province.

This line traverses 270 tunnels and 510 valleys across the karst landscape.[2] Bridges and tunnels account for 83% of the line's total length, including 92% in Guizhou.[2] A total of 238 tunnels, totaling 464 km, were built along route including nine tunnels over 10 km in length.[1] The longest tunnel, through the Yan Mountain in Rongjiang, is 14.693 km.[1]