Line 11 (Guangzhou Metro)

The line forms a 43.2-kilometre (26.8 mi) ring around the edge of the dense central areas of Guangzhou, allowing circumferential and tangential traffic to avoid transferring at the congested city center stations. As such, 19 of the line's 32 stations plan to have transfers with other lines. In addition, the line will act as a distributor for the numerous Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region intercity railways, and the suburban radial subway lines (Guangzhou Metro Line 14, Line 21, Line 22 and Foshan Metro Line 11) that are expected to terminate at stations on Line 11.

Due to the large number of connections and destinations, the line is expected to have a ridership of over 1.2 million passengers per day. To cope with the projected high demand, engineers designed the line to be the second in the system to use high-capacity 8-car wide-body type A trains.[2] Rolling stock will be stabled at the existing Line 8 Chisha depot, reached by a new connection between Chishajiao and Shiliugang stations.

In 1997 the "Guangzhou City Rapid Rail Transit Network Planning Study (Final Report)" proposed ring line 5 as an alternative to the B program. It followed a closed loop roughly along Newport Road, Changgang Road, Fangcun Avenue, Huangsha Avenue, Huanshi Road and the current Guangzhou New Central Axis. However, the final recommendation was for the A-ring program, so it was not adopted.

In 2008 a new round of rail transit network planning again proposed a loop line. This time it was to follow Xingang Road and the Changgang Road Corridor of Line 8 in the Haizhu Section, with respective "inner ring" and "outer ring" schemes. As the new central axis and Central City Road in the 1997 Line B proposal became Line 3 and Line 5 respectively, between the two schemes, the northeast half-ring was extended via Guangyuan Road, Tianhe North Road, Zhongshan Avenue and Tianfu Road to access Pazhou Station. The difference between the two programs lies in the direction of the western half. The "Little Ring" program was to connect Guangzhou Railway Station along Industrial Avenue, Kangwang Road, Liwan Road and Zhanqian Road. In 1997 the "Grand Central" program was to pass Fenghuang Xincun Station and follow the route of Fangcun Boulevard and Huangsha Avenue and Central City Hall to reach Guangzhou Railway Station, but was realigned along Guangyuan Road. The final "grand scheme" was adopted; however, the already-completed Pazhou-Wansheng section was transferred to other routes, leading to a temporary extension of Line 8 to Culture Park in the Fenghuang New Town.

When the plan was formally chosen in 2010, it was decided to not split Line 8, retaining its original "L"-shaped route. All sections of the ring line would be completely new. Therefore, the "Grand Central" Southern Half Ring was also extended to Yat King Road in the Shin Khouang Corridor, south of Line 8, becoming an outer ring named Route 11, essentially following the current route. At the same time, it was also planned to increase the number of stations to 32. The final decision was to add only one station, but cancel Ruibao station. However, as the proposed route crossed Baiyun Mountain and Haizhu Wetland, concerns were raised by environmental groups. In the following 2014 proposal, the Admiralty–Yuntai Garden segment was realigned from under Baiyun Mountain to below Guangyuan Middle Road. Due to the restructuring, the original main entrance of Yuntai Garden Station was moved 150 metres to the south, to street level in Guangyuan Middle Road. Additionally, a secondary exit was removed the Haizhu Wetland.

In 2012, Line 11 was included in Guangzhou Metro's 12th Five-Year Plan and approved. January 2015, the Environmental Impact Assessment for Line 11 was approved by the Provincial Environmental Protection Agency. In July 2015 the project feasibility report was approved. At the end of 2015, Yuexiu District applied for the cancellation of Tianxincun Station due to difficulties with site clearing, but in late September 2016 the station was approved for construction. On September 28, 2016, construction officially started.

Approved Route

Station №	Station name	Transfer	Location
	English			Chinese
— ↑ Loop line towards Chishajiao ↑ —
	Shiliugang	石榴岗		Haizhu
	Datang	大塘	3
	Shangchong Park	上涌公园
	Yijing Lu	逸景路
	Wufeng	五凤
	Jiangtai Lu	江泰路	2
	Yangang	燕岗	Guangfo
	Nanshi Lu	南石路
	Hedongdong	鹤洞东		Liwan
	Shachong	沙涌	Guangfo
	Fangcundadaodong	芳村大道东
	Fangcun	芳村	1
	Shiweitang	石围塘
	Ruyifang	如意坊	6
	Zhongshanba	中山八	5
	Caihongqiao	彩虹桥
	Liuhua Lu	流花路		Yuexiu
	Guangzhou Railway Station	广州火车站	2   5  GZQ
	Ziyuangang	梓元岗		Baiyun
	Guangyuan Xincun	广园新村
	Dajinzhong	大金钟
	Yuntai Garden	云台花园		Yuexiu
	Tianxincun	田心村
	Shahe	沙河	6	Tianhe
	Guangzhou East Railway Station	广州东站	1   3  GGQ
	Tianhedong	天河东
	South China Normal University	华师	3
	Huajing Lu	华景路
	Tianhe Park	天河公园
	Yuancun	员村	5
	Pazhou	琶洲	8	Haizhu
	Chishajiao	赤沙滘
— ↓ Loop line towards Shiliugang ↓ —