(Yicai) May 27 -- China has opened two new intercity railroads in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. By also linking them with two existing lines, the four tracks connect five cities and cut travel times between them.

The Guangzhou-Foshan and Foshan-Dongguan railways began operating yesterday. The four lines together form a 258-kilometer circular commuter track that runs east to west through 39 stations in the southern Chinese cities of Zhaoqing, Foshan, Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Huizhou.

China has ambitious plans for the Greater Bay Area that include major improvements to rail infrastructure to enhance connectivity and foster economic integration. Key projects focus on developing efficient and high-speed transport links between Hong Kong, Macao, and nine cities in Guangdong, including a 650-kilometers-an-hour maglev train linking Guangzhou and the two special administrative regions.

With many important industry clusters, the Greater Bay Area's combined economies reached CN14 trillion (USD1.9 trillion) last year.

The region’s latest development in rail transport puts the central areas of Foshan and Dongguan within a half-hour commute of Guangzhou, and those of Zhaoqing and Huizhou within an hour of Guangdong’s provincial capital, Song Ding, a researcher at top national think tank CDI, told Yicai.

That will further boost the exchange of population, information, industry, and capital between these cities, he added.

As the first rail links connecting multiple cities in the Greater Bay Area, the opening of the new tracks is highly symbolic because they include Huizhou and Zhaoqing, two rather remoter cities with relatively weaker economies, thereby helping them to develop faster, Song said.

So making money is not the priority for investors and operators of intercity railroads, Song noted, though the government will still need to compensate operators to maintain their normal operations in the long run.

For travelers, “taking the intercity railways is like taking the subway,” Song said. Tickets do not need to be booked in advance and passengers can pay with the pre-paid public transportation cards available in their own city or by scanning a QR code at stations, he noted.

Connecting the intercity railroads and cities' subways is not easy, Song pointed out. The rail links faced hurdles in getting construction approvals and raising money, but those built and operated by Guangzhou Metro Group will serve as a successful example for future such railroads, Song added. 

But integrating these intercity railroads with urban subway systems was no easy task, Song pointed out. The rail links faced hurdles in getting approved and funded, but those built and operated by Guangzhou Metro Group will serve as a successful example for future such railroads, he added. 

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev