In 1917, Sun Yat-sen began to write down his own industrial plan, and by 1919 he had completed "Strategy for Founding of Country." In Southwestern Railway System, in Industrial Plan, Sun Yat-sen envisioned seven major railways that would connect Pearl River Delta region and Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan region. One of them is famous Chengdu-Guangzhou Railway.

Scheme of Chengdu-Guangzhou Railway

Sun Yat-sen named this route "Guangzhou-Chengdu Line via Wuzhou and Xufu". The 1,930 km railway runs from Guangzhou along Xijiang River to Zhaoqing, passing through Deqing, Wuzhou, Dahuang (Guiping), Xiangzhou, Liuzhou, Qingyuan and Xien, and then enters Guizhou. In Guizhou it passes through Dushan, Duyun, Guiyang, Qianxi, Dafang, Bijie and then Zhenxiong in Yunnan. It then arrived at Xufu (Yibin) in Sichuan, then railway went up Minjiang River and finally arrived at Chengdu.

During reign of Nanjing, some sections of this railway began to be built in accordance with vision of Sun Yat-sen. In 1939, construction began on Guiyang-Liuzhou section, known as "Guizhou-Guizhou Railway". At that time, Mo Shujie, director of Guangxi Communications Department, was from Nandan, so he made some adjustments to route: instead of going through Xian (Huanjiang) as envisaged by Sun Yat-sen, he went through Jincheng River and Nandan. . In 1944, section from Liuzhou to Qingtaipo in Guizhou was built, but was forced to stop due to anti-Japanese war. After founding of New China, construction of Guizhou-Guizhou railway resumed, and in 1975 it was finally opened to traffic. In 2007, after capacity expansion and transformation, distance from Liuzhou to Guiyang was only 489 kilometers.

Guizhou-Guizhou Railway (Green Part)

After winning Anti-Japanese War, Guangxi Province developed a new railway construction plan, planning to build a railway from Liuzhou to Guangzhou under project of Sun Yat-sen called "Liuguang Railway". After founding of New China, capital of Guangxi Province moved to Nanning, which later became capital. Subsequently, Liuzhou's status plummeted, while Nanning rose rapidly. The originally planned Liuguang Railway proved to be stillborn.

In 1959, with help of Soviet Union, construction of a railway (Pinglu Railway) connecting Shaoguan and Liuzhou began. Although this railway did not advance along Xijiang line, it can approximately reach goal of connecting Liuzhou and Guangzhou. However, in 1961, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated: Soviet Union broke agreement and withdrew all specialists, technology and facilities, Pingliu railway was forced to close and it was never built again. Only a few pillars of bridge remain today.

Pingliu Railway Bridge Pier

Therefore, a strange phenomenon occurred later: train from Guiyang to Guangzhou must run in a circle in Guangxi Province, but there is no direct line. Later, a railway from Guangzhou was also built to Zhaoqing, and only a 400 km railway line from Liuzhou to Zhaoqing can be connected. The Liuzhao railway was included in plan many times, but was not built for various reasons. Some people think that Guangxi's attempt to build Beibu Bay as a sea crossing for southwestern region is also main reason why Liuzhao Railway cannot be built.

Guizhou-Guangzhou High-Speed ​​Railway

Chenggui, Yugui, Chengdu-Chongqing high-speed rail lines

Later, Guizhou and Guangdong Province jointly built Guizhou-Guangzhou High-Speed ​​Railway, which has a more direct line and has become main passenger transportation channel from southwest to Pearl River Delta region. The opening of Chongqing-Guizhou high-speed railway and Chengdu-Guizhou high-speed railway made connection between Chengdu-Chongqing region and Pearl River Delta closer, and Sun Yat-sen's vision was realized to a certain extent. As for freight traffic, railways have yet to be established. At present, freight railway from Guiyang to Bijie has been completed and opened to traffic, and a freight line from Bijie to Xuyong, Sichuan is under construction, meaning freight line from Guiyang to Chengdu is not far away. In future, there will be a dedicated freight line from Southwest China to Pearl River Delta, which is just one section away from Liuzhao Railway.

Longhuang Railway