Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong railway

Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong railway, abbreviated as Husutong railway^[1] (Chinese: 沪苏通铁路; pinyin: Hù-Sū-Tōng tiělù, "Hu", "Su" and "Tong" being the abbreviations for Shanghai, Suzhou and Nantong, respectively) is a higher-speed railway in China's Yangtze River Delta area, connecting Shanghai, the region's main city located south of the Yangtze, with Nantong in Jiangsu province, north of the river.

Husutong Railway
Yangtze River Bridge on Husutong railway under construction, March 2016
Overview
Native name	沪苏通铁路
Termini	Zhaodian Huangdu
Stations	9
Service
Type	Higher-speed rail Heavy rail
Technical
Line length	137.28 km (85.30 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	200 km/h (120 mph)
Signalling	Automatic block signaling
Maximum incline	0.6%
Route map Legend Yancheng–Nantong HSR to Xuzhou East Nanjing–Qidong railway to Linchang Zhaodian Nanjing–Qidong railway to Nantong East Nantong West Husutong Yangtze River Bridge Zhangjiagang North South Jiangsu Riverside HSR to Nanjing South Zhangjiagang Nantong–Ningbo HSR to Fenghua Changshu Taicanggang Taicang Beijing–Shanghai railway to Beijing Anting West Anting Huangdu to Fengbang & Shanghai Hongqiao Beijing–Shanghai railway to Shanghai Xuhang Shanghai Baoshan Huangpu River Waigaoqiao Caolu Shanghai East Situan This diagram: view talk edit

The railway is 143 kilometres (89 mi) in length and traverses several county-level cities in Suzhou Municipality of Jiangsu along the south bank of the Yangtze including Zhangjiagang, Changshu and Taicang.^[2][3] The railway is also called the Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong railway or the Husutong railway. The railway is designed to accommodate maximum train speeds of 200 km/h (120 mph),^[4] the operation of electric traction hauled double-stack container trains^[5][6][7] and has reduced train travel time from Nantong to Shanghai to just over one hour.^[4]

History

Initially proposed as the Shanghai–Nantong railway (Abbreviated as Hutong railway),^[8] construction works began on the first phase of the project in March 2014, and was expected to take five and a half years.^[4] The railway began operation on July 1, 2020.^[2][3]

The second phase of the railway, from Taicang to Situan, was approved in September 2021.^[9]

Route

The railway includes 137 kilometres (85 mi) of new tracks, from Zhaodian railway station (赵甸站) on the Nanjing–Qidong railway northwest of downtown Nantong to Huangdu railway station on the Beijing–Shanghai railway, in the northwestern part of Shanghai City. Anting being within 20 km (12 mi) of Shanghai railway station, the total railway distance from Nantong to Shanghai is under 160 kilometres (100 mi).

The railway crosses the Yangtze River over the new Hutong Yangtze River Bridge between Nantong and Zhangjiagang, a double-deck bridge with a 4-track railway on the lower deck and a six-lane roadway on the upper deck. The bridge is the world's longest span (1,092 metres (3,583 ft)) cable-stayed road-rail bridge with the highest (325 metres (1,066 ft)) piers of a cable-stayed road-rail bridge.^[10] The bridge is the easternmost railway crossing of the Yangtze. Previously, the only railway crossing in the Yangtze Delta region was a freight-only rail ferry on the Xinyi–Changxing railway, between Jingjiang and Jiangyin, some 30 kilometres (19 mi) upstream. The closest railway bridge is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, over 200 kilometres (120 mi) upstream. The new bridge thus greatly improves the railway connections between the Central Jiangsu (the region north of the Yangtze) and the Jiangnan, in particular Shanghai.

On its way between the new bridge and Anting, the railway has brought rail service for the first time to prosperous communities on the southern bank of the Yangtze such as Zhangjiagang, Changshu, and Taicang which had no railway connection.^[4]

Railway Stations

Station	Chinese	Distance (km)	County-level city / District	Prefecture-level city	Province	Metro transfers
Nantong	南通站	(13)	Chongchuan	Nantong	Jiangsu
Zhaodian	赵甸站	0	Tongzhou	Nantong	Jiangsu
Nantong West	南通西站	6	Tongzhou	Nantong	Jiangsu
Zhangjiagang North	张家港北站	32	Zhangjiagang	Suzhou	Jiangsu
Zhangjiagang	张家港站	34	Zhangjiagang	Suzhou	Jiangsu
Changshu	常熟站	52	Changshu	Suzhou	Jiangsu
Taicanggang (freight station)	太仓港站		Taicang	Suzhou	Jiangsu
Taicang	太仓站	100	Taicang	Suzhou	Jiangsu
Taicang South	太仓南站	114	Taicang	Suzhou	Jiangsu
Anting West	安亭西站	129	Jiading	Shanghai	Shanghai
Huangdu	黄渡站		Jiading	Shanghai	Shanghai
Xuhang (branch)	徐行站		Jiading	Shanghai	Shanghai
Shanghai Baoshan (branch)	上海宝山站		Baoshan	Shanghai	Shanghai
Waigaoqiao (freight station, branch)	外高桥站		Pudong	Shanghai	Shanghai
Caolu (branch)	曹路站		Pudong	Shanghai	Shanghai
Shanghai East (branch)	上海东站		Pudong	Shanghai	Shanghai
Situan (branch)	四团站		Pudong	Shanghai	Shanghai

Notes

1. . China Railway. 2020-06-30. Archived from the original on 2021-02-22. 上海至苏州至南通铁路（以下简称沪苏通铁路）将于7月1日开通运营，助推长江三角洲区域一体化发展，上海至南通最快旅行时间压缩至1小时6分钟。
2. (Chinese) 林小昭, "沪苏通铁路今开通，上海大都市圈迎加快发展新契机" 第一财经 2020-07-01
3. (Chinese) "沪苏通铁路开通！江苏南通正式加入长三角1小时经济圈" 央视新闻 2020-07-01
4. "沪通铁路2013年正式开建 南通到上海仅需一小时" [Construction work on the Hu-Tong Railway will officially start in 2013. It will take just an hour to travel from Nantong to Shanghai] (in Chinese). December 24, 2012.
5. sina_mobile (2017-01-21). "中国跨度最大公铁两用钢拱桥合龙(图)". news.sina.cn. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
6. "「通沪铁路7月运营，宁启-通沪路增开动车组38对」- 南通房产超市". nt.fccs.com. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
7. "上海铁路局：宁启铁路4月11日起进行动态检测". inews.ifeng.com. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
8. "沪通铁路改名为通沪铁路 业内:或与铁路命名方式有关". 扬子晚报. 2020-04-14.
9. "沪苏通铁路二期批了！". 高铁网. 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
10. Lin Kai (1 March 2014). . Xinhuanet. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014.