Xiong'an Railway Planning Outlook: Seamless Connection with Airports in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei

After the establishment of the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei, how will the railway transportation be planned? How will it integrate into the existing transportation integration plan of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to achieve seamless connectivity? The official plan has not yet been released. However, a fleeting image in the April 27 episode of Tianjin TV's "Tianjin News" revealed a lot of information. According to the railway planning schematic diagram shown in the TV news, in the future, Xiong'an New Area will build Xiong'an Station and Xiong'an East Station, and new railways including the Jingxiong Railway and Jinxiong Railway will connect directly to Beijing and Tianjin. The Xiong'an New Area: forming a half-hour commuting circle with Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang. He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated in an interview with Xinhua News Agency on April 4 that the Xiong'an New Area has obvious location advantages and convenient transportation, which can quickly form a half-hour commuting circle with Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang. Lu Huapu, a member of the Expert Advisory Committee for Coordinated Development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and director of Tsinghua University's Transportation Research Institute, also mentioned in an interview with Xinhua on April 5 that Xiong'an New Area needs to achieve "seamless connection" with the airports in the three regions. Given the current transportation situation in the three counties of Xiong'an New Area, it is clear that these goals cannot be achieved. Currently, the three nearest high-speed railway stations to Xiong'an New Area are Baoding East Station and Baiyangdian Station and Baigou Station on the Jinxin Railway, all of which are at a certain distance from the core area of the new district. It is imperative to replan the railway network for the new area.

On the morning of April 27, Tianjin Municipal Party Secretary Li Hongzhong, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor Wang Dongfeng held discussions with Lu Dongfu, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and General Manager of China Railway Corporation. Both parties jointly signed the "Minutes of Talks on Promoting Railway Construction and Development in Tianjin" between Tianjin Municipal People's Government and China Railway Corporation. During the talks, Li Hongzhong stated that Tianjin will actively connect and serve the planning and construction of Xiong'an New Area. Before the meeting, Li Hongzhong, Wang Dongfeng, and Lu Dongfu jointly reviewed the "Tianjin Railway Planning Schematic Diagram" to understand in detail the planning design scheme for railway lines and discussed optimizing network layout, major railway project planning and construction, key station site selection, air-rail-sea connections, and enhancing Tianjin's regional hub functions.

1. Build two new stations: "Xiong'an Station" and "Xiong'an East".

2. Build a new Jinxiong Railway starting from "Xiong'an Station" to the east through Tianjin's new "New Passenger Station" to its terminus at Tianjin Yujiaopu Station, with a branch line splitting near Tianjin South Station heading north to Tianjin West Station before merging into the upcoming Jingbin Intercity High-speed Railway.

3. Build a new Jingxiong Railway that continues south from "Xiong'an East" station after passing through Beijing's new airport towards Hengshui in Hebei.

4. A new line will be built from "Xiong'an Station" connecting to the existing Jinxin Railway at Bazhou West Station.

5. A new railway will be built from Beijing passing through "Xiong'an Station" to Baoding East Station heading towards Shijiazhuang.

6. A new railway will be built from Gu'an in Hebei passing through "Xiong'an Station" to Baoding East Station.

From the above planning sketch, it can be seen that passengers can transfer from Tianjin's "New Passenger Station" to reach Tianjin Binhai International Airport via Tianjin Binhai Station; the Jingxiong Railway directly connects to Beijing Daxing International Airport being constructed, allowing direct access from "Xiong'an Station" to Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport. Under this new plan, Lu Huapu's statement about achieving "seamless connection" with airports in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei has become feasible. The intercity railway network planning in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei may change due to Xiong'an New Area's emergence. In November 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission approved a recent plan for intercity railways in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. According to this plan, by 2020, several railways including "Jingbin Intercity Railway" from Beijing to Tianjin Binhai, "Jingtang Intercity Railway" from Beijing to Tangshan, a railway from Beijing via a new airport to Bazhou, "Jingshi Intercity Railway" from Beijing to Shijiazhuang, as well as a loop line connecting stations like Tongzhou and Gu'an will be completed. The total length is about 1100 kilometers with an estimated investment of about 247 billion yuan.

1. The originally planned railway line from Beijing via a new airport to Bazhou may be adjusted to become "Beijing-New Airport-Xiong'an East" as part of the "Jingxiong Railway."

2. The originally planned "Jingshi Intercity Railway" from Beijing to Shijiazhuang may be adjusted to become part of the line shown in the "Tianjin Railway Planning Schematic Diagram," which is "Beijing-Xiong'an Station-Baoding East-Shijiazhuang."

3. The originally planned "Guobao Railway" from Gu'an via Baigou and Anxin County to Baoding may cancel Baigou Station and instead pass through "Xiong'an Station."

Tianjin New Port North Container Center Station may become an important logistics outlet for freight transport from Xiong'an New Area. From Tianjin TV's "Tianjin News," we can also observe a black line starting from Tianjin Binhai New Area's "New Port North Container Center Station," passing through Tianjin's "Xiditou Logistics Center," merging into Jinxin Railway via Bazhou West Station before reaching Baiyangdian and Baigou stations in Xiong'an New Area. According to this schematic diagram, this section in Tianjin is referred to as the "Big North Ring Line." Baiyangdian and Baigou stations indicate that this line may become an important freight logistics outlet for the new area in the future. Another staff member working on a section in Tianjin confirmed that construction is underway for Tianjin's "Southwest Ring Line." Unlike Big North Ring Line which is a passenger line with Zhangjiawo Station and Qingninghou Station under construction along its route; however, this staff member stated they were unaware of any developments regarding Tianjin's newly constructed "New Passenger Station."