Gateways to the City

The growth in modern high-speed rail (HSR) in the second half of the 20th century has ushered in a “second railway age” to rival the great Victorian builders of the 19th century.  When it comes to building HSR networks, in the last 10 years the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has steamed ahead of the rest of the world, developing lines at an unprecedented speed and scale.

Since 2007, the PRC has built about 10,000 kms of HSR lines. By 2020, the network is expected to connect many of the largest cities through a 22,000-km, high-speed line, amounting to more than half of the overall length of HSR in the world.

HSR lines already in operation and running at speeds of 300-350 km per hour include the Shanghai-Beijing and Beijing-Guangzhou routes.

“Because passenger numbers are so high, interchanges for the HSR tend to be conceived in terms of operational efficiency without consideration for the quality of the passengers’ journey experience,” said Sharad Saxena, a Principal Transport Specialist at ADB. “Also, newly built HSR stations are usually not in the city center, but on the fringes. This poses planning and design problems, including how to provide smooth links to other means of transport and to the rest of the city.”

To examine these issues, ADB and the Bartlett School of Planning, University College, United Kingdom have developed a guide to improving interchanges, highlighting some of the best practices of railway interchanges design and operation in the PRC, alongside some examples found in other countries.

The central theme of the study is that the travel experience of passengers passing through interchange hubs can be made more enjoyable. Passengers should have access to activities and entertainment to make their waiting and journey time more productive. The interchange becomes a part of the journey that is valued rather than seen as a waste of time.

ADB has recently invested in transport linkages to interchange hubs, such as Jiangxi-Fuzhou, Jiangxi-Ji’an, and Hubei Yichang, and is seeking to benchmark these investments against the most progressive practices globally.

“We see the interchange hub as critical to the development of greater sustainability in our cities,” said Ayumi Konishi, Director General of ADB’s East Asia Regional Department. “There are some excellent and innovative stations being designed in the PRC and also internationally. We hope to see this progressive design spread, leading to a much better travel experience for the passenger.”

A leading example is Shanghai South, which opened in 2006 following a major refurbishment of the old station. The hub follows the common split-level design used in the PRC, with the rail platform at level one and the departure hall at level two. But internal organization of the interchange hub is excellent, while the architectural design of the station building is inspiring. The spectacular roof allows in much light, improving  the mood of travellers.

“Shanghai South shows what can, and is, being done in the PRC - HSR investments are of high quality and often as good as any public transport investments in the world,” said Saxena.

Tianjin West, which reopened in 2011, retained its original, early 20th century German architectural style and shows the value of ease of access. A central element is the grassed station square providing an inviting entry to pedestrians. Vehicle  drop off is provided at a lower mezzanine level.

“Good station design can give it a particular identity, and create places that people enjoy and wish to use,” added Konishi. “Achieving a high-quality finish can mean that a landmark, high-status project, is developed - even making the station a destination in its own right. This is what we seek to achieve in ADB’s work on multimodal interchange hubs.”

In this respect, the Improving Interchanges study also looks at international examples such as King’s Cross Station in London; Delft and Rotterdam stations in the Netherlands; Malmo Central in Sweden; Madrid Atocha in Spain; and Berlin Hauptbahnhof in Germany.

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