100-year-old Guangzhou Baiyun Railway Station reopens after renovation

A 100-year-old railway station in south China's Guangdong Province opened for service on Tuesday after renovations.

The Guangzhou Baiyun Railway Station is the upgraded and expanded version of the Tangxi Station, which was built in 1916.

The station is both a destination and departure station for many major routes in China, including the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway, Beijing-Guangzhou railway, Guangzhou–Meizhou–Shantou railway, and Guangzhou-Maoming railway, further improving Guangzhou's passenger transport capacity.

The railway station is connected to two highways by four municipal roads and boasts a tourist center, a coach station, a tour bus station and a bus station at the four corners of the main terminal, respectively. These supporting facilities enable travelers to enter the railway station within a minute after exiting buses, taxis or private vehicles.

Shaped like Guangzhou's city flower kapok, the station has seven floors, three above ground and four underground, 21 arrival and departure tracks, and 21 platforms for passengers.

The railway station has a 40,000-square-meter waiting hall with 11 ticketing barriers on the two sides, and a maximum capacity of up to 15,000 people.

"Each ticketing gate can lead to multiple platforms, which can optimize the space utilization of the waiting area. After passing through the gates, the passengers can find their platforms by following the instructions on screens above the entrance of each corridor," said Peng Hui, an employee at the railway station.

A series of scientific and technological innovation achievements have been made during the construction of the station, including the development of the full life cycle management platform for steel units, the application of 18 intelligent robots, the application of a photovoltaic power generation system and the construction of accessible facilities throughout the station.

"The Guangzhou Baiyun station, after it opens, will mainly handle most of the normal-speed trains, as well as some high-speed trains and intercity railway trains," said Jiang Pengcheng, director of the main station building construction.

"In doing so, it creates conditions for the renovation of Guangzhou Station and Guangzhou East Station, which will mark a leap forward in facilitating the entrance of high-speed trains into downtown Guangzhou and greatly enhance the city's role as a railway hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," Jiang said.