The Tongdewei station of north extension of Metro Line 8. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

Guangzhou Metro is planning to extend its subway to connect Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Foshan and Dongguan cities, according to a public bidding document recently released by the company.

The south extension of Line 18, starting from Nansha in Guangzhou, is expected to connect Zhongshan and Zhuhai as part of the city's plan to build a Guangzhou-centered one-hour transportation circle.

[Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

The extension is planned to start from Wanqingsha (万顷沙) in Nansha district and pass through Shiliu Chong (十六涌) in Guangzhou and Cuiheng Xinqu (翠亨新区) in Zhongshan (station names are subject to change). The express route will then be divided into two parts, with the trunk line stretching to Zhuhai and a branch line running towards downtown Zhongshan.

The trunk line may even reach Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Zhuhai port located on the artificial island in Zhuhai, the only checkpoint in the country connecting both Hong Kong and Macao.

Vehicles run on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, October 24, 2018. [Photo by Liang Xu/Xinhua]

Currently, the design scheme of Line 18 south extension is awaiting further research and discussion, Metro officials said.

Once approved, the extension line will be able to shuttle passengers between Guangzhou and Zhuhai in around 30 minutes in the future. For the time being, it takes more than one hour to travel between the two cities by intercity rail or over two hours by bus.

More subway lines are also planned to expand the city's transportation network, including north extension of Line 18 (Guangzhou East Railway station - Huadu Tiangui 广州东—花都天贵), north extension of Line 22 (Fangcun - Baiyun Airport 芳村—白云机场), and Line 28 (Foshan - Dongguan, passing through Guangzhou 佛山经广州至东莞城际).