Guangdong–Hainan railway

Guangdong–Hainan railway
Guangdong–Hainan railway
	Railway between Haikou railway station and South Port
Overview
Other name(s)	Yuehai railway
Native name	粤海铁路
Status	Operational
Owner	China Railway
Locale	South China between Guangdong and Hainan
Termini	Zhanjiang West; Haikou;
Stations	3
Service
Type	Train ferry connection
Services	1
Operator(s)	CR Guangzhou
Rolling stock	CR DF4DD
History
Opened	7 January 2003
Technical
Number of tracks	4
Character	Sea crossing
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification	25 kV AC overhead line

The Guangdong–Hainan railway or Yuehai railway (Chinese: 粤海铁路; pinyin: Yuè-Hǎi tiělù)^[2] is a railway that operates from Haikou railway station in Hainan, via South Port, a few hundred metres north-west on the coast, and the Qiongzhou Strait ferry, to Zhanjiang, at the tip of the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong, and then north into Guangdong.

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The Yuehai Railway Ferry (Chinese: 粤海铁路轮渡; pinyin: Yuè-Hǎi tiělù lúndù) is a train and vehicle ferry connecting the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Hainan. The ferry service runs across the Qiongzhou Strait, between Zhanjiang and South Port, just north-west of Haikou railway station.

When ferries containing railway cars arrive at South Port from Zhanjiang, passengers not travelling in railway cars disembark. The passenger cars are run off the ferries and a locomotive is attached, which takes the train to the Haikou railway station. There, the passengers exit the cars and leave the station, or they can connect to the Hainan eastern ring high-speed railway. Freight trains also use the ferry service and travel through Haikou railway station onto the Hainan western ring railway, and to other locations in Hainan, such as Dongfang.

The line has operated since January 2003, carrying both freight and passenger trains, enabling direct train service between the mainland and the cities of Haikou and Sanya on Hainan Island.^[3] In 2010, two ferry boats were in operation: Yuehai No. 1 and Yuehai No. 2. The third boat, Yuehai No. 3, was launched in Tianjin in September 2010.^[4]

Yuehai No. 3 and the fourth boat, Yuehai No. 4, entered revenue service with the ferry company on February 1, 2013.^[5] The two 23,000-ton vessels are 188 meters (616 ft 10 in) long, 23 meters (75 ft) wide and 15.3 meters (50 ft 2 in) in total height; they have a 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in) draft. The vessels carry rail cars at the lower deck and cars on the upper deck; there are passenger compartments as well. They travel at the speed of up to 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).^[6]