Shanghai–Suzhou–Nantong railway, abbreviated as Husutong railway (, "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.
The railway is 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.(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(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 The railway is designed to accommodate maximum train speeds of , the operation of electric traction hauled double-stack container trains and has reduced train travel time from Nantong to Shanghai to just over one hour.
History Initially proposed as the Shanghai–Nantong railway (Abbreviated as Hutong railway), construction works began on the first phase of the project in March 2014, and was expected to take five and a half years. The railway began operation on July 1, 2020.
The second phase of the railway, from Taicang to Situan, was approved in September 2021.
Route The railway includes of new tracks, from Zhaodian railway station () 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 of Shanghai railway station, the total railway distance from Nantong to Shanghai is under .
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 () cable-stayed road-rail bridge with the highest () piers of a cable-stayed road-rail bridge. 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 upstream. The closest railway bridge is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, over 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.
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