With the first pair of 500-meter tracks laid on Oct 14 between the Guangzhou South Railway Station-Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport section – located in South China's Guangdong province – the east ring of the Guangzhou-Foshan Loop Intercity Railway has now well and truly entered the track-laying stage.

The process is said to be particularly challenging due to the extended transportation distance of the long rails, which must traverse conventional and intercity railway lines – including sections of intercity railways not yet open to the public.

The project involves the arduous task of laying tracks over about 45 kilometers of underground routes.

Tracks are put down at the Baisha Bridge construction site, located between Guangzhou South Railway Station and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on the intercity railway. [Photo/WeChat account: tianhefabu]

The east ring of the Guangzhou-Foshan Loop Intercity Railway is regarded as being an important transportation infrastructure project. Once finished, it will help promote and realize the regional economic integration of the Pearl River Delta.

In all, it will span a length of nearly 46.7 km – passing through Panyu, Haizhu, Huangpu, Tianhe and Baiyun districts of Guangzhou city – and will have eight stations.

On completion, the travel time from Guangzhou South Railway Station to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport will be cut to just half an hour – while that from the Tianhe Central Business District to Guangzhou South Railway Station and the airport will be reduced to 10 minutes and 20 minutes, respectively.